Big Changes
by Trisar
Summary: After crashlanding from an undesired flight, Ranma wakes up in the Juuban prefecture of Tokyo, with an old girlfriend! Before he gets home, however, a mysterious woman gives him a stone with some strange power... DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue: Change in the Air

**Big Changes**  
by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

I don't own Ranma ½, nor do I own Sailor Moon. I'm just...uh...borrowing them, is all. Really. This takes place after Ranma's gotten back from the battle at Mt. Horai and just before the arrival of the Death Busters in the Sailor Moon manga.

* * *

"Ranma, you **jerk!**" echoed in his mind. He was vaguely aware of having left the ground behind long ago. A part of him questioned where he was flying to this time. It went mostly unheeded, as he was in a state of semiconsciousness, and couldn't coordinate the different parts of his mind together. Another part of his mind wondered why Akane didn't trust him, if she would ever trust him. The thought ran unsoothingly through Ranma, even as he realized he was descending. A hazy examination revealed no one in his direct path before his mind shut down completely.

"What was that sound?" Rei asked, looking up from her studybook as a loud **CRASH!** echoed in from outside. Makoto was already up and running toward the door. Instead of meeting at the game center, the girls had chosen to have their usual gathering at Makoto's apartment, where the boy-crazy martial artist had cooked up a bunch of snacks. _If that was a monster attack,_ thought Rei, _then it's a good thing we chose to come here today!_ Following behind Makoto, the other girls had enough time to hear her exclaim "No way!" before she ran down to the ground level like a maniac.

"Mako-chan! What're you doing?" yelled out Usagi, running down the stairs at a much more sedate pace, given her aptitude towards clumsiness. Ami was walking down the stairs behind her, not as panicked now as she'd been, since Makoto hadn't even transformed before her panic-sprint toward the ground. Minako and Rei, thinking along those same lines, were also walking down the stairs.

"Ranma-sempai! Ranma-sempai! Can you hear me? Wake up!" yelled Makoto, and the three who hadn't gone into panic-mode reached ground level to see Makoto with an older boy, high school age by his looks, resting with his head in her lap. Rei thought he looked somewhat familiar, but also thought he was kind of cute, especially with his black hair done up in that pigtail of his.

It was about then that what Makoto was yelling filtered into everyone's brains. "Sempai?!" they yelled as one.

"Yeah! This is my old sempai, Ranma Saotome! I haven't seen him for a couple years now, and I was wishing I could see him again just now instead of sitting around and studying. If I'd known how he'd show up, though—"

A groan from the pigtailed boy caught their attention, and all eyes snapped toward him. "That...stupid...tomboy," he grumbled, apparently recovering consciousness. He suddenly froze, stiffening, causing the girls to blink in wonder. One of his eyes slowly opened, casting a wary glance at the girl whose lap he was in. "Oookay. You look familiar, but my head hurts too much for me to even guess what your name is."

"Ahh...it's Kino. Makoto Kino," murmured a suddenly blushing Makoto, who'd caught herself glancing into Ranma's eye. They were the same as they'd always been. Bright blue and filled with a childish happiness that seemed impossible to keep down for long.

"Makoto Kino, huh? Mako...MAKO-CHAN?!" The girls were caught off guard as the boy, who had apparently been just barely conscious, suddenly leapt up and turned to face Makoto, none the worse for wear. "Mako-chan, that's really you?!" he asked, lifting the tall girl up to her feet with obvious ease, examining her face. "It is! Wow! It's been so long! How have you been?"

"I've been fine, sempai," replied Makoto, still blushing. "H-how have you been?" She was beginning to mentally curse herself for not being able to focus past those blue eyes of his.

"Been better. Been lots better," he replied, looking around. "I don't recognize this area. Where am I?"

"Tokyo, Juuban prefecture," supplied Ami helpfully.

"Juuban?! That stupid tomboy knocked me all the way to Juuban?!" yelled Ranma, eyes widening. Ami blinked, uncertain of how to answer. "That's it. Somethin' has to give. She can't keep goin' like this, hittin' me for no reason at all. She might start hittin' people who can't take hits the way I can, and if she hits 'em that hard..." He sighed, then looked up. "You're SURE I'm in Juuban?"

"Any reason why you shouldn't be?" asked Rei.

"Yeah. I WAS in Nerima just a few minutes ago," replied Ranma blandly. "Juuban... Juuban... Isn't that the place with all the monster attacks? With the superpowered cheerleaders and all?"

_S...superpowered cheerleaders?!_ thought Rei, her eye twitching slightly. "Well, isn't Nerima that place with the freak martial artists and psychotic school administrators?" she asked, hoping to score a hit against Ranma.

"Yeah, it is. What's your point?" he returned, apparently unfazed by her comment, and as such, completely unprepared for her facefault into the ground. "While I'm thinking about it, what time is it?"

"About, um... five thirty, I think, sempai."

"Aww man, I'm gonna miss dinner because of that stupid, uncute girl! Mako-chan, it was great seeing you again and all, but I've gotta get going." Much to the bewilderment of the five girls, Ranma proceeded to make a standing leap onto the roof of Makoto's apartment. Looking around from his new perch, he picked a direction, then sprang off, eventually disappearing into the distance.

It took him a while to actually _reach_ Nerima, and by the time he did, he was tired of jumping over roofs, and settled down on the ground. He needed time to think, anyway. His thoughts had barely had time to start working on something when someone called out to him, a quiet, "Good evening, young man."

Blinking, he turned toward the voice, seeing a heavily cloaked figure standing behind a glass display case. The figure gestured him over, and figuring he had nothing to lose at this point, he actually walked over. Peeking inside the case, he noted several valuable gemstones that he couldn't even hope to identify. Set apart from the mass of glittering rocks were a white one, a green one, a pink one, and a blue one.

"Something catch your eye?" lilted the cloaked person, who Ranma could now identify as a woman, but not one he knew. "Ah, I see you are drawn to those ones. Which one draws you?"

He couldn't help it. He found his eyes fixed on the white gem. "That one," he said, pointing.

"Ah, the false jade. A very tough gem, that one. Very well." With little fanfare, the woman opened the display case, taking the white stone from its place and setting it in Ranma's hand.

"Wha? Er..."

"Keep it. Call it a gift, or whatever. Call it chance or destiny. Either way, it's yours."

He blinked, then slowly nodded. There was... something about this stone. He _had_ to keep it. Putting it in his pocket, he prepared to bow to the woman, only to find that she and her display had vanished without a trace. And yet... the stone was still in his pocket.

"Okay. That's too weird."

"There you are!" yelled another voice. Ranma turned, this time with resignation, seeing Akane. "WHERE have you been?! Off with one of your other girls?"

"That'd be kinda hard, Akane! You sent me all the way to Juuban!" he returned, marching past her and back on his way to the dojo.

"Hey! Don't you ignore me! Hey, I said!"

Oh yes. Today was definitely a weird day for him...

---

Dropping down into a sitting position in the Tendo sitting room, Ranma ignored Akane as she stomped up to her room, instead taking the gem from his pocket and scrutinizing it. It was fairly unremarkable, blandly colored, and pretty light. About the only thing it had was that it seemed pretty damn durable, plus... something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"What's with the rock, Saotome?" asked Nabiki, glancing at the stone boredly.

"Someone just... gave it to me. Called it 'false jade,' I think." That stopped Genma's creeping hands. False? If it wasn't real, it wasn't valuable enough to sell.

Nabiki, on the other hand, began tapping her finger against her chin, while Kasumi perked up slightly. "Kasumi, you were always better as mineralogy than me. What's false jade called, again?"

"Oh my... Ah, nephrite, I think. The counter to jadeite, 'true jade.' Isn't nephrite a rather tough stone?"

"Well, this rock's pretty tough," replied Ranma. "And there's... something about it. Almost like it's got ki or something."

"What, is the rock alive, Saotome?"

He paused. Carefully, he considered the rock, his senses flowing over it. "Yeah, it just might be..."

Genma's hand began creeping again. If it was alive, there was bound to be some way of using it to make money besides directly selling it... like defeating the dread master, or making Ranma marry Akane, or—

_Thwack!_

"Yeow!" bellowed the elder Saotome, clutching at his bruised knuckles as Ranma retracted his fist.

"Watch those fingers of yours, Pops. I don't think you want this rock badly enough to go through me to get it."

"He's right, Genma," intoned the aforementioned dread master, Happosai, from the table. Everyone in the room except for Kasumi jumped back from the table in surprise.

"M-master!" yelped Genma. "Wait, what do you mean he's right?"

"That rock is... protective. If anyone but the true owner touches **that** particular rock, they'll have the time of their life for the rest of their life."

Kasumi sipped her tea ponderingly. "That doesn't sound so bad."

"The rock makes sure you die with a smile on your face. It crams about four thousand years' worth of pleasure... into the space of five seconds. Your brain quite literally liquifies in your skull. If you can get your hand off the rock in about a second, you'll live, but you'll be stuck thinking about that pleasure. You'll always want to get it back, but you know you can't, so you focus on what pleasure you **can** get." Happosai shuddered slightly. "It isn't pretty."

Nabiki took on an insightful expression. "You've touched one of these rocks before, haven't you?"

Nodding, Happosai replied, "Yes. Not that rock in particular, actually. It was a sample of pink spodumene."

Ranma blinked as that rattled in his brain, unlodging... something. He didn't know what, but he opened his mouth and... "You mean kunzite?"

The entire room blinked, turning as one to Ranma, then everyone turned to Kasumi for confirmation. She, for her part, nodded slightly. "Yes, kunzite by another name is pink spodumene. How did you know that, Ranma-kun?"

"I... don't know." Truth be told, the dislodging of that knowledge was causing a headache for some reason. "I'm... gonna go lie down. I don't feel so good... and don't **no one** touch the rock. Got it?" Getting slightly panicked nods from everyone in the room, Ranma stood up, slipping the nephrite into his pocket and heading up to the guest room to lay on his futon. Between a sudden weariness that he attributed to having to return from Juuban on foot and the night's events, and the headache pounding at the inside of his skull, he was all too eager to fall into blissful unconsciousness.

* * *

Foreshadowing? What is this foreshadowing you speak of? Does it involve Legend of Zelda and the Four Sword? Or the Fused Shadows? No, wait, I've got it! It's the counter to the four Light Spirits, right?

This... has been in the works for some time now. Personally, I say it's about time I got it up and out. Hope you folks like it.


	2. Ch 1: Close Encounters of the Bug Kind

**Big Changes**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

Still don't own Ranma ½ or Sailor Moon. Just borrowing 'em.

To address a common question, I honestly think that if this fic were to be worth reading, then it would be worth reading whether the characters involved were Ranma, Ryoga, Mousse, and Taro, or if they were Hiroshi, Happosai, Konatsu's step-mother, and Gosunkugi.

If the fic were worth reading, it would be because even with that last combination, there would still be a way to tell the story the author intended, be it in a horribly comedic fashion that involves explosives or someone crushing their thumb trying to hammer a nail.

If, for whatever reason, you don't like the combination of characters I end up picking, boo hoo, too bad, so sad. No one's forcing you to read this. Your Internet browser has a "Back" button for a reason. Use it.

I'm sure that last statement offended a lot of people. Good. I'm getting my point across.

To those of you who are left, thank you. **You** are the people worth writing this sort of thing for because you're more concerned about how the story gets to point B from point A than the people who build the path there.

Having said my piece, however, I can assure you all that the only regular male troublemaker in Nerima who will get involved with the event in Juuban will be Ryoga. I leave it up to you to speculate on whether a mysterious cloaked female will be paying him a visit or if he wanders there lost, fights a youma, and leaves.

At least up until we hit that particular story development. Just wait, it'll be worth it.

I hope.

* * *

_**Click. Click. Click. Click.** Polished black leather boots clicked their way on crystalline floors. Their wearer, a tall, handsome man with warm brown eyes and dark hair, was pristinely dressed in a pressed dark gray uniform. A white cape, clasped with a white stone under his throat, over his shoulders and a general's rank insignia over his right breast completed his outfit perfectly. The man in question bore a deep frown on his face as he walked._

_"Nephrite!" called a voice from behind him. He flinched, his eyes widening a fraction, and he turned toward the voice. Approaching him with a frown of her own was a beautiful young woman. Her hair was brown, but a lighter shade than his, offset by her sparkling green eyes. Her green collar, white bodysuit, short green skirt, and pink ribbon contrasted his darker colors, but served to emphasize her appearance._

_He let his eyes sweep over her form as she walked up to him, committing it to memory. Her long legs were open to view with her skirt, though he didn't offer complaint as he looked her over from the top of her ponytailed head to the tip of her ankle-high boots._

_He brought his eyes back up to hers as she finally got into his personal space, and flinched back again at the glare she was leveling him._

_"What's the big idea, Nephrite? Why are you sneaking off before Princess Serenity's even gotten to blowing out the candles on her birthday cake?" she asked, sweeping her hand back, where the hallway stretched out in crystal perfection to a set of slightly ajar double doors. "You didn't even stop to say..." She cut herself off suddenly, eyes widening. "You... You're going back, aren't you? Back to Earth..."_

_For the third time that night, Nephrite flinched. "Jupiter... Mako-chan... I'm sorry... It's my duty. You know that. I have to protect the prince... and this is a very hard time for Earth," he said. He stepped forward, drawing her into an embrace. "I wish I could stay longer... I wish I could at least bring you with me... You know as well as I do, though, that you have to stay here with Princess Serenity, and I have to go to Prince Endymion. Jadeite sent me a message last night saying that they were already starting riots and rebellion in Atlantis."_

_"I know, I know, but still," sniffled Jupiter, burying her face into his chest. "I've got this terrible feeling. If you go, I'm afraid I won't see you again in this lifetime, if ever."_

_A hand cupped under her chin, lifting her face up to his, warm eyes gazing into her tear-filled ones. Smirking, Nephrite said, "I thought Mars was the spiritualist of you four." He raised his eyebrow to punctuate the statement._

_Whatever his intentions were, the wisecrack did help dispel her sadness, if only to stoke the flames of her anger. "You jerk," she growled, pulling away and punching him in the arm. "This isn't funny. I'm really going to miss you."_

_"I know... and I'm sorry, but I really have to go. Don't be angry, okay?" he said, smiling winningly._

_Jupiter was silent for a long moment, and sweat began to break out on Nephrite's face as he worried she was going to hit him again, except harder this time. Finally, she spoke. "Okay. But... one last kiss? Just one?"_

_"All right. Just one."_

_He cupped her cheek in his hand, leaning in toward her..._

_Their lips met..._

---

Ranma's eyes shot open, his danger sense at full throttle. Rolling out of his futon and onto his feet, he took a combat stance, looking around for the threat.

When he saw a wailing panda, crackling with electricity, with a chunk of white rock in its paw, he had to fight the urge to facefault, especially as the panda was apparently wearing a glove. Negligently, he reached out and grabbed the stone away from the panda, which immediately fell over, and walked over to his dresser, idly running his fingers over the rock.

"You still alive, Pops?" he said over his shoulder, pulling out some clean clothes. The panda groaned weakly in reply. "Teach you to try and take other peoples' stuff, now won't it?" Ignoring the panda feebly waving a sign in his direction, which said something about insolent brats, Ranma stepped out of the room and into the hallway.

His trained senses picked up Akane heading out for her morning jog, while Nabiki was still in bed, and Kasumi was just entering the kitchen. Mr. Tendo was already out on the porch, which meant he was either reading the paper or setting up the shogi board.

_Huh, woke up early this morning,_ thought the boy, stepping into the laundry room outside the bathroom. Carefully and deliberately, he put the occupied sign on the outside, then as a secondary measure, locked the door. Wanting to be extra cautious, he then proceeded to jam the lock down to where it would take greater than average strength to open it, short of simply tearing the door off its hinges. He knew that such measures would probably cause damage to the lock later on, but frankly, if Nabiki cared enough to raise a stink over it he'd be glad to point out all the damage that happened to his family home because of her telling the fiancées he had an 'engagement ring.'

Frowning as he undressed, setting his nephrite on top of his clean clothes, and slipped into the bathroom proper, being careful to jam that door too, he wondered, _Where'd that come from?_ Shrugging it off, he sat down at a faucet and began morning bathing procedure, consisting of a dousing of cold water, several scrubbings, more cold water, and finally moving over to the large hot bath. "Weird dream though," he said as he settled into the hot water. He felt the tension in his muscles melt away with the heat.

_That guy... me... I called that other girl, Jupiter or whatever, Mako-chan. Was that really Mako-chan, or just someone else with a similar name?_ he thought. _And who was I? She called me Nephrite... That's the name of that rock... Of course,_ he reasoned, _it could just all be one big coincidence._

He paused at the irony.

_Yeah right. Good thing it's Sunday. There's something going on and Mako-chan's involved, so I'd better go see her first thing._ His course for the day decided, and realizing he was likely to get hit later, he stood up from the bath...

And smiled when nothing happened. Unjamming the door, he went into the changing room to get dressed... _This might be a good day after all!_ he thought with a smile.

---

"And then... well... we kissed," finished Makoto, blushing brightly as she sat next to Rei at the Hikawa shrine. Being the only spiritually active member of the Sailor Senshi, Rei was often called on for matters of the soul, especially where it involved Shinto beliefs.

In this case, reincarnation and past life dreams seemed to be the issue.

"You're sure it was Nephrite?" asked the priestess. "The guy we fought who always used shadows, the one **you** flash-fried on your first day as a Senshi?

Makoto nodded. The face wasn't one she'd forget easily. "Yeah. I even called out his name, and he knew who I was, even though I was Sailor Jupiter at the time."

Rei pondered that for a moment. "What were his eyes like?"

"His eyes?"

"Nephrite's eyes when we fought him were cold, heartless. Like staring into a void."

Makoto opened her mouth to speak, apparently not hearing the door opening behind her. "His eyes were warm, caring. The whole time, even when I was glaring at him, I could tell he loved me and didn't want to hurt me by leaving me behind, but didn't have a choice in the matter."

"Oooh! Who, Mako-chan? That cute boy from yesterday?" squealed a voice directly behind the athletic girl, causing her to jump very nearly to the ceiling, and then narrowly avoid landing on Rei when gravity got hold of her again. Turning around, Makoto saw that the source of her attempt at besting the high jump record was none other than her friend, Usagi, with Ami in tow. Minako would no doubt be along shortly.

"No, Usagi-chan. Mako-chan had a weird dream last night, so she wanted to talk to me about it to see what it meant," explained Rei as the blonde and bluette sat down. "If I read all of it right... I **think** she was starting to remember some of the Silver Millennium."

"Wait, that means I was Nephrite's girlfriend back then? Ugh!"

"Well, remember," interjected Ami calmly. "Originally, Beryl's four generals were actually Prince Endymion's bodyguards. In turn, we were originally Princess Serenity's guard. It makes sense that we'd have to find something to do while our charges were attending royal functions, since we couldn't always group around them, especially at parties."

"Besides, didn't you say it was **obvious** how much he loved you, Mako-chan?" said Usagi, surprising the taller girl with a from-behind hug. The other girls in the room, especially Makoto, could practically **hear** the grin in Usagi's voice, never mind that they could see it on her face. "It's so romantic!"

"It is!" agreed Minako, surprising the other girls by appearing seemingly in the middle of the group. "After years of separation, she meets her old sempai, rekindling the flames of passion and romance in her breast; then, that very night, memory of love in another life comes to her in her dreams! Ah! So romantic... It's decided then!"

_Uh-oh_, immediately thought Makoto. _This **can't** be good._

"I, Minako Aino, in the name of Love and Justice, swear to work with all my power to bring Makoto and her old sempai Ranma back together!"

_I hate being right. I hate it so much._ Makoto almost wanted to cry.

"After all, you know what they say: in the end, the love you break is almost the same as the love you take!" chirped the blonde brightly.

As the other girls fell into the floor face-first, Ami responded with her eye twitching. "That's 'the love you **take** is **equal to** the love you **make**,' Minako-chan..."

---

A red blur flashed across the rooftops of Nerima at high speeds. This blur, often known as Ranma Saotome but sometimes known as "foul sorcerer," "enemy of women," and "perverted jerk," was on a direct, across-the-roofs course for the Juuban prefecture of Tokyo. Those on the ground who would chance to look up as he passed overhead would be lucky to see more than a streak of red as he moved.

Which suited him fine, because he didn't want **anyone** knowing where he was going today.

_The old ghoul and Ucchan are probably busy with their morning rushes still, Nabiki and Akane can't track me across the roofs and they know it, neither can Kuno but he **don't** know it,_ cataloged Ranma in his mind. Running through his mental list even as he poured on the power in his jumps, he quickly discarded Mousse as a possibility as well. _He'll be tripping Shampoo trying to get her to date him, which slows 'em both down. The only real unknowns here are Kodachi and Ryoga. Ryoga I **might** be able to trust around Mako-chan and her friends, but Kodachi..._

No, letting any of the girls from Nerima know about his old girlfriend would be a bad idea, especially if they found out he was closer with Makoto even after several years of separation than he ever was with Akane. He could just imagine Shampoo's reaction to it.

_'Obstacle is for killing.' Bah._

Leaping off one roof and flipping over stylishly in midair, Ranma landed lightly on the ground. _Yep, here's Juuban. Ryoga would choke if he heard this, but..._ "Hey," he said, knocking on the door to the police box he'd landed by. "Can you tell me where a girl named Makoto Kino lives, please?"

The officers were glad to help him, and he quickly found himself following their directions around the district. Just as he saw a familiar apartment complex not too far off, however, he found himself witness to a most disturbing sight.

_Three meters tall, looks like a giant stag beetle with a preying mantis's blades for arms... and sorta female shape, too,_ he thought with a slight grimace. _And attacking random folks on the street clinches it. Second day in Juuban and I already get to meet the local youma. Most tourists have to wait four days._

As if sensing a challenge, the youma turned to face Ranma, its mandibles clicking together rapidly. After a moment of clicking together horribly, it said, "Strong human. Surrender and death will be painless."

_Definitely female,_ decided Ranma, though the smaller mandibles helped that image now that he thought about it. "And if I don't?" he said, smirking at her.

"Then this Repiya will kill you slow and painful!"

That was all the warning Ranma had before the self-proclaimed Repiya lunged at him. The clumsy, graceless motions of the insect-like beast seemed almost slow to him as he jumped over her, avoiding the tackle with space to spare.

"Too easy," he grinned, kicking her in the back solidly. His grin faded when his senses failed to register any damage to her carapace.

"Too easy," hissed Repiya in mockery, spinning with speed he wouldn't have guessed from her size and last movement. This time, Ranma barely avoided the attack, his shirt slicing open from the blade.

Making sure he had plenty of distance, Ranma quickly checked himself over. "Aw, man! This was my favorite shirt, too!" he grumbled, but was at least relieved his flesh wasn't cut. "All right, bugly. Try this one! **Moko Takabisha!**" Thrusting his hands toward Repiya, he **felt** his life force form into a ball and launch.

She, for her part, simply grinned and opened herself to the attack, and to Ranma's mounting horror, grew considerably when it hit, now leaving her standing at four meters tall and with serrated blades as opposed to razor-edged.

She lifted her blade in preparation for the killing blow, when a voice cut her off with an emphatic, "Stop right there!" Both human and monster turned, seeing five girls in leotards and miniskirts standing on a nearby building roof.

The apparent leader, a blonde with a strange double-bun and ponytail hairstyle, stepped forward. "How dare you attack innocents in broad daylight who were doing nothing but enjoying a nice Sunday off! In the name of the Moon..."

A blue-haired girl in a blue skirt, next to the oddly-styled blonde, stepped forward and picked up the speech. "...in the name of Mercury..."

Next stepped up a raven-headed girl in red, saying, "...in the name of Mars..."

A brunette with a simple ponytail and a green skirt chimed in, "...in the name of Jupiter..."

The fifth girl, another blonde with unstyled long hair and an orange skirt, declared, "...in the name of Venus..."

Finally, all five took a pose, gesturing at Repiya. "...you're punished!" they yelled simultaneously.

* * *

Cliffhanger! Originally the chapter was going to go on for a bit longer than this, but I changed my mind.

For anyone with a passing interest in entomology, which is the study of insects, the knowledge that a female stag beetle has much smaller mandibles than a male is fairly common. I, myself, had to look it up on Wikipedia.

**Repiya** - Insectoid youma, aura-vampiric type. Repiya is part of a greater hive that will be explained throughout the opening arc of Big Changes, and as a part of a hive, has several hundred siblings just like her. She's actually a drone type, not able to self-generate enough energy on her own to make warrior status. However, being aura-vampiric, she can absorb life force either directly (by latching onto a source of it and sucking them dry) or by having someone project it into her. In the case of Ranma's **Moko Takabisha**, it was the latter. The pure, focused life force of a ki adept is, to Repiya's class of youma, akin to ambrosia. The energy absorbed temporarily upgraded her to warrior status.

**Senshi vs. Scouts** - One unfortunately common theme in Sailor Moon fanfiction is a discontinuity in reference. Authors will often use the dub-assigned names, but then call the girls the Senshi; alternatively, some use the original Japanese names, but call them Sailor Scouts. I will not be doing this. However, unlike many, I will call Mamoru Chiba 'Tuxedo Mask,' **not** Tuxedo Kamen. Why? As anyone who knows Japanese with any level of fluency will tell you, 'kamen' translates to 'mask.'

**The stone** - Some may question Genma's continued existence after touching the nephrite. Others may question the electric shock instead of a pleasure center-derived brain implosion. Finally, there's at least one of you sitting there smugly, having figured it out. The short and simple truth is that nephrite is not kunzite. The stone that explodes your brain with pleasure is kunzite. Ranma's nephrite delivers an electric shock based on how powerful the person holding it is and how resistant they are to draining attacks; electrical resistance doesn't factor in. There are three exceptions to this. Naturally, Ranma is the first; the other two will be revealed later.

There's something of note for anyone interested who reads my profile. To summarize, send me an private message if you'd like to be my editor; be sure to tell me if you use Open Office, Microsoft Office, or 'other.' If the case is 'other,' you'll have to tell me what file formats you **can** view. I'm also interested in seeing what kinds of omake (extra; bonus) situations my readers can come up with.

See you next mission.


	3. Ch 2: Tadaima Sanjo!

**Big Changes**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

Apparently, I failed to make my point the first time.

I already have a plan for where this story is going. This includes all characters involved, major plot segments, most interactions, the works.

In short, while your suggestions and comments are all very interesting and would probably make very good fics in the right hands, they will not be in **this** fic.

Moreover, requests to "not have so-and-so in this position" or ideas of "this and that would be good, don't you think?" will be **ignored**. It's not that I think they're bad. It's not even that I'm particularly mean spirited.

The problem lies in the fact that, having already created a progressive plan for the story in my head, while I can take the time to edit out things in chapters that go against continuity **established to that point** (meaning, in this case, everything before the S arc in the Sailor Moon manga, and just before the Miss Hinako debacles in the Ranma manga) I will not change the plan on spur of the moment just because someone asked nice and offered an alternative.

I'll say this again, and I'll repeat it until I've driven my point home or until I finish the fic, whichever comes first. If you're reading the story for the 'how' of the story reaching Point B from Point A, rather than who the characters are that build the path, thank you. You can skip ahead to the story if you want. This doesn't apply to you. If, however, you're just going to cry, leave a review whining about your favorite character not showing up, and threaten to stop reading if I don't change the story for your whim... hit the back button. Better still, GTFO my Internet. If you're going to ask me to take a character you don't like out of an important part of the story, I'm going to ignore you. Since you're asking me to, essentially, retcon a character into obscurity, I'm going to assume you want the same done to you and treat you accordingly.

Yes, I know I'm being a bastard about this. Yeah, at this point I could probably squeeze coal into a diamond in my butt cheeks. I'll get right on that, in fact. I'll be RICH!

* * *

Ranma stared in what might have been disbelief at the girls posing on the nearby rooftop.

_Youma **and** the Sailor Senshi. I'm on a roll today, _hethought sarcastically. Still, their arrival had distracted Repiya...

Just as he was about to act, she seemed to remember him, and she lashed out with the flat of her blade, catching him flat-footed and sending him into a wall. "Will deal with you later," she said, before turning to the Sailor Senshi.

"Sempai!" gasped Jupiter.

"Jupiter, make sure that guy's okay!" yelled Sailor Moon. "Mars, Venus, Mercury, let's wipe this creep!"

Not bothering to acknowledge her leader, Jupiter leapt from her perch, easily clearing the now-besieged youma and landing next to the crushed wall. "Please be okay, sempai," she begged, digging through the rubble. "What?" she said, flinching away from a sudden white light.

She was very nearly sent sprawling by the sudden blast of force that erupted from the light, but managed to get to her feet and stay standing instead. As the light began dying down and the figure underneath was revealed, her eyes widened in disbelief.

_It can't be...!_

---

Ranma was very irritated. Back in Nerima, Ranma getting irritated was a nonverbal cue to get under cover, as what had happened the last time he'd gotten angry was very widespread knowledge.

Now, it's perfectly understandable, in context, just why Ranma would be irritated. He'd woken up this morning from a rather odd dream. Then he found that his father, true to form, had been trying to steal an incredibly valuable treasure from him—despite warnings from **Happosai** of all people that doing so could mean his life. Now, in the midst of all this, he'd just gotten kicked into a wall by a youma and saved by **superpowered cheerleaders**.

Ranma's day had only just gotten started.

He didn't hear the girl digging through the rubble over his head, trying to free him. His attention had become firmly focused on the nephrite in his hand, which had started glowing. Soon it was too bright to look at, but by then he'd already closed his eyes.

He could feel it. His form was changing, reshaping itself. And then...

He was standing. Having lifted himself off of the ground, he glanced down at his body. Additional height greeted him, as did new clothes and a slightly enhanced musculature. The pressed gray uniform, he admitted, did look good on him, especially with that general's rank pin and the white cape clasped under his throat with his nephrite.

His nephrite.

Nephrite.

"Neph... rite..."

His eyes and head turned—he noted absently that he now sported unbound, dark brown hair instead of black and in a pigtail—toward a familiar vision. Tall, with a white bodysuit and a pink bow, green skirt, boots, and collar, and a body that simply wouldn't quit.

"Jupiter," he breathed, his dream coming back to him. He loved this woman. He couldn't explain how, but he did, he knew it. He reached out to embrace her.

"Nephrite," she said, whisper-soft, leaning toward his embrace. She was confused, he could tell, and in disbelief. He couldn't blame her. He was still confused himself.

Then his danger sense cranked up to full throttle. A quick glance confirmed Repiya was the source. Fed up with the other girls attacking her, she'd turned to find what looked like a scrumptious source of energy to fight back with. Her serrated blade arm swung around at the both of them...

And with a simple leap, he was out of her reach and safely depositing Jupiter onto a rooftop. The movement seemed to snap her back into attention, and she turned to him, now wary and distrustful.

He ignored it, turning to face the youma. "Repiya!" he bellowed, his voice deeper than he remembered. Words flowed from his lips. "Prepare yourself! Second Guard of Prince Endymion, General Nephrite is here!" Internally berating himself for sounding like a Kuno, Nephrite sprang from the building, arcing downward in a powerful kick to Repiya's head.

He noted as he landed on the ground, with some satisfaction, that **this** time he managed to leave a sizable crack in her carapace. Dodging first a swipe, then a kick, he back-flipped away into a handstand, avoiding another swipe. As he continued his movements, pushing from a handstand to a handspring, his foot lashed out at the narrowly-avoided blade, breaking it just below what could have been considered Repiya's wrist.

She howled in response, taking several steps of her own away from this new, incredibly strong man. A scowl crossed her face, as opposed to her earlier grimace of pain, and she opened her mouth. Her mandibles spread wide, and light began to shine from the inside blades and gaping maw.

Nephrite took on a defensive stance, then his eyes widened as his trained and enhanced senses detected what was happening. His original stance, meant to allow him quick reactive speed to mêlée combat, was quickly shifted to a posture he was drawing up from instincts he didn't remember having. Arms at torso height, feet at shoulder width, knees and waist bent slightly, he almost felt like he was drawing on ki reserves, except...

Further thought was cut off as instinct took over. A yellow blast of powerful energy ripped out of Repiya's maw, but instead of burning a hole in Nephrite, or even dislodging his position, it was absorbed into him. As the energy died out, Repiya felt herself returning to her normal size and form, weakened from her attack and injuries, while Nephrite looked fresh and ready to continue, his hands glowing.

"**Return Shot!**" he yelled, thrusting his hands toward Repiya. "**Storm Hellbringer!**" With his yell, a yellow beam similar to Repiya's attack was fired out, except over five times as large. There was a noticeable difference in effectiveness as well: Repiya was vaporized from her thorax upward. Her abdomen wobbled, and he could swear he saw it beginning to regenerate...

...though that was impeded spectacularly by a flare of yellow light and a blast of lightning that utterly vaporized it.

Before Nephrite had time to comment on the shot, he found himself surrounded by all of those girls in the short miniskirts, each one glowing with some kind of power. The sheer variety of it, plus his own instincts screaming at him not to fight these girls, left him with little choice. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I don't want to fight," he said. "Not you, anyway. If another monster comes along, I'll get right on kicking **its** ass, though."

The blue-haired girl, identified from her earlier calls as Mercury and who bore a similar hairstyle to Akane's but appeared, under a bit more scrutiny, to not really resemble her otherwise, held a small device in her hands. "I don't believe it. He's showing up as a positive match for being Nephrite, but there's absolutely zero dark energy in him. I don't know how or why, but he's alive, and I don't think he's evil."

"What did you do to Ranma-sempai?" asked Jupiter, stepping forward dangerously. "He was under that rubble before you showed up, and he's not here anymore. Where is he?"

Still maintaining a posture of surrender, Nephrite stared blankly at Jupiter. Then, he squinted at her, his gaze now one of deep curiosity. Finally, after a moment of examination, his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "Mako-chan!"

Four of the girls blanched, while the one under the scrutiny suddenly flushed red. "Why are you calling me that?"

"Because, it's me! I'm—" Nephrite began, but his jaw clamped shut as a voice whispered in the back of his mind. Almost surreptitiously, he looked over and saw people, specifically many pedestrians and city emergency workers, entering the now-quiet battle zone. "Uh, can we talk about this somewhere else? Like, say, somewhere less public?"

The girls were obviously displeased with the notion, but were also reluctant to continue having such a discussion where anyone with a tape recorder could pick up on sensitive information leading back to them. After a quick huddle, Mars turned a scowl on him as the other four quickly leapt away. "We've decided to lead you somewhere that we can talk, but any funny business and we'll blast you back to the Dark Kingdom so fast, **Beryl** will feel it!" she exclaimed, turning to pursue her comrades.

Nephrite mumbled a quick "Who's Beryl?" before gathering his wits and giving pursuit of his own. Glancing ahead, he saw the girls with the lead on himself and Mars drop down into an alleyway. As he and Mars cleared another leap, he could see the girls enter a rear entrance into one building, which was...

_Okay, so the Sailor Senshi's secret hideout is an arcade. Brilliant._

Landing lightly behind Mars, he rolled his eyes at the glare she directed at him. Rather pointedly, she indicated that he was to proceed first, to which he assented, if only to actually go anywhere. Stepping out of the sunlight and into the artificially lit interior of a back room in the arcade, he was forced to blink several times for his sight to adjust, leaving him with the view of Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter all in a ready position...

...and with Sailor Moon happily playing away at an arcade machine labeled "Sailor V!"—and apparently losing, if her cries of misery and the digital sounds echoing from the arcade cabinet were any indication.

Nephrite blinked again. "Why's the dumpling head the only one not ready to blast me?"

Immediately, he and the other Senshi cringed, clutching their ears as Sailor Moon's responding wail threatened to deafen them. "Don't call me dumpling head! You're so mean, Nephrite!"

"Well, he's got a point in my book already," grinned Mars painfully.

"Seriously, I've never seen anyone as tense as you girls... You're acting like you expect me to jump outta my skin like some kinda oni."

"That's because the last time we saw you, you tried to kill us and I vaporized you," stated Jupiter, with such tactless bluntness that even he was impressed. Or would have been if the statement hadn't registered.

As it was, he could only blink.

And stare.

Levering an arm up, he extended out the pinky, sticking that finger into his ear and wiggling it around. After a second, he popped his finger back out, examining the nail and tip for any oddities. Finally, he turned back to Jupiter. "There's nothing in my ear, but just so we're clear, could you repeat that?"

"I said," Jupiter began, speaking very slowly and clearly, "that the last time we saw you, you tried to kill us."

"Uh-huh..."

"And," she continued, "I vaporized you."

"Yeah, see, there's two problems with that right there," he mumbled in reply. "Maybe three. First, I don't know any of you except Jupiter, except by rumor, so I don't wanna kill any of ya." Leaning back, he continued with a smirk, "Second, I **never** lose, especially when the chips are down." The Senshi, except Moon and Mercury, rolled their eyes at this arrogance. "And finally, a completely new thing, I think I can absorb energy blasts."

"New?" asked Mercury.

"Yeah, new. As in, something I didn't have before. Absorbing energy blasts would've made Ryoga and Herb so much easier to beat once they started throwin' their ki around."

Jupiter's eyes widened at the mention of the name Ryoga. "Ranma-sempai?" she asked, hesitantly.

Blinking in surprise, Nephrite turned to her. "Huh? How do you know who I am? I don't look a thing like I should," he said, incredulous.

She narrowed her eyes at him, anger welling up from some unknown source, and she smirked viciously as he flinched away from her. Then her smirk changed into a snarl, "Why did you go back to Earth, you jerk?! You left in the middle of Serenity's birthday party, and then you..."

Nephrite blinked, as did everyone else, when Jupiter's anger seemed to fade. He alone, however, cringed when she glared at him again, though this time through tear-filled eyes. His senses noticed an incoming attack, but before he could react, she was on top of him, burying her face in his chest as she sobbed.

"Yo-you're always leaving me behind, s-sempai," she cried, "First when you went back to Earth without me... then in this life, when you left with your dad..."

"So-sorry, Mako-chan," coughed Nephrite, having had the air knocked out of him by the tackle. "I had to go back to Earth, though... I had to protect Prince Endymion and... what the hell am I talking about... Who's Endymion?" He briefly recalled calling out that he was the guard of Endymion during the fight against Repiya, but his mind drew a complete blank on the man.

"Memory fragmentation, but..." Mercury nervously bit her lip. "He's definitely a good guy... This is Nephrite **before** Beryl got to him, and... I think it's also Ranma Saotome."

Sailor Moon showed the first step of trust, walking over to the floored pair and kneeling down next to them. "Jupiter? Are you alright?" she asked.

Jupiter sniffled, pulling herself off Nephrite. "I'm okay, just... just had a few thousand years' of pain built up... plus about four years from this life," she said, wiping at her eyes as she stood up. "Sempai, you were right... It's me, Makoto. And you're really Ranma-sempai, aren't you?"

Nephrite nodded, standing up. He reached to his cape, feeling the gemstone that formed the clasp for his cape, and **willed **something into happening. The Senshi all flinched back from a sudden flare of light, though Jupiter kept her eyes on Nephrite as it occurred, so she alone saw as Nephrite changed from a tall, imposing general into a simple teenage boy in Chinese clothing, wearing a silver chain around his neck with the nephrite stone set as a pendant.

"I'm Ranma Saotome," he said, feeling the cliché in his speech. "Sorry about this."

* * *

**Author's Post-chapter Notes**

Does this count as a cliffhanger? I hope not. Too many cliffhangers make you readers antsy.

Well, there's really not much to say on this chapter. I hope it came out well. Hopefully the second General will be revealed next chapter.

**Storm Hellbringer vs. Moko Takabisha** - Some of you may have rightly guessed that the energy Repiya fired at Nephrite was Ranma's own life energy from the Moko Takabisha. Nephrite's Return Shot, however, is not life energy. The Moko Takabisha energy was absorbed and channeled through Nephrite's own magic, turning it into pure magical aura. So, the Storm Hellbringer is a magical version of the Moko Takabisha, albeit much stronger.

**Return Shot** - If the chapter's exposition doesn't make it clear, it'll become so in later chapters.

**Arcade hangout** - In the manga, Motoki (Andy) from the Crown Game Center finds out about the Senshi frequenting his basement, and instead of getting angry, happily offers to let them continue doing so. I figured that the Senshi would have this sensitive discussion occur in the arcade instead of risking their identities by holding it at one of their homes.


	4. Ch 3: Knife and Scimitar

**Big Changes**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

A small request before I move onto my actual rant.

If you have any questions about the story regarding things you'd like clarified that weren't clearly explained **in** the story, and you ask those questions in a review, I'd really, really like it if you were a signed-in user of FFnet. That's about all there is to say on this subject.

That out of the way.

**Pre-Chapter Author's Rant**

First, I'd like to personally thank the anonymous "someone" who left the review of "Real mature" for the previous chapter of Big Changes. Lacking anything more than two words, as well as an e-mail address or even the ability to reply, I can only assume the best and believe you were commenting on the mature writing style of Big Changes as a whole. I hope you will continue to find satisfaction in the quality of my work.

Second... um... huh? Wow. I don't have a second thing to rant about.

Lina: So get on with it.

Trisar: Yeah, yeah. You get paid by the hour, not by commission anyway, so what are you worried about?

* * *

A cloaked figure made her way down a street in the Juuban prefecture of Tokyo. Her gait was not particularly hasty, nor was her manner particularly aggressive, as she actively did what she could to avoid bumping into most people and was often passed by others who walked by at much faster clips. The person was, as has been stated, female; quite obviously so, in fact, as the cloak was poorly sized to conceal her full, though athletic figure.

She was apparently oblivious to her pursuit, which was odd as the five thugs trailing her made no moves to disguise it. As if suddenly sensing them, she glanced over her shoulder, a pretty face peeking through the hood of the cloak for a moment before she, in apparent distress, dashed down an abandoned side alley.

Chuckling at the girl's foolishness, the thugs sped up their walk into a quick jog, reaching the alley and blocking it to prevent exit. Clearly visible was the girl's form, still shrouded in her cloak, as she faced away from them and at the dead end of the alleyway. Slowly, as if in disbelief, she turned back toward the entrance of the alley, facing her pursuers.

"Hey, babe," one said, a bald man of lanky build. He stepped forward, toying with a small switchblade in his hand. "Looks like you took a wrong turn. Maybe we could help you with some directions?" He leered at her as he spoke, his buddies following him in.

"Of course, we need some... payment for helpin' you," added a large fellow, his hair spiked and dyed ridiculous colors. "Capitalistic exchange and all that. Gotta keep up with the times, you know?"

"Whatd'ya say, babe?" asked the first one. "How about it?"

"No, I don't think so," replied the girl, her voice strong despite the odds.

"That's a mistake," growled the apparent leader of the thugs. "I think we might havta rough her up a bit, boys."

Pink lips curved into a smirk. "You're the ones who made the mistake, and **I** may have to rough **you** up," said the girl, reaching up and tugging her cloak off.

The assailants had only a moment to take in the glowing red eyes, slitted pupils, and blue and pink hair before they were attacked. The large one had an extra moment, having backed away, to see a silver chain with a pink-jeweled pendant before joining his comrades in blissful unconsciousness.

---

Ranma paused in his telling the Sailor Senshi, who had adopted their civilian guises and formally introduced themselves, about how he and Makoto had met. He turned his head, glancing at the wall, a puzzled look on his face.

"Sempai?" prodded Makoto, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Thought I sensed someone familiar for a second," he replied, turning back. "Where was I?"

He was interrupted again, however, by two blurs of black and white dashing into the room. The black one hopped up into the lap of the blonde with the funny hairstyle, Moon—Usagi Tsukino as she called herself. The white one made a home for himself on the other blonde's shoulder, Minako Aino.

He stiffened when he recognized what the blurs were. _Cats! Furry little devils! Hellspawn, they are!_ flashed through his mind, and then suddenly stopped. He narrowed his eyes, leaning forward and peering the black cat in the face, noticing for the first time two things: first, his pathological fear of cats had yet to trigger; second, this 'cat' had a crescent moon on its forehead.

He turned and looked at the white cat, noticing the same symbol on its forehead as well. That sigil was tickling all kinds of memories in the back of his head, and as he turned back to the black cat, a neuron in his brain fired, processing a hint of memory.

"Luna?" he whispered, before having to resist the urge to laugh at the shocked expression on the cat's face.

"Hey, how do you know her name? I haven't told you yet," protested Usagi, scratching Luna on the scruff of her neck.

Ranma shook his head, able to guess now why the Cat Fist had not made him start going crazy. "I recognized her. You know, from my memories. Sorta. It's not very clear, but I remember her name... and that she can talk," he finished, eyeing Luna speculatively.

**That** got Luna's attention. If he knew she could talk... "Young man, just who are you?" she asked, deciding to toss her cover aside since he obviously knew better.

"There's the billion yen question," he mumbled in reply. Standing up, he made production of bowing to Luna, sweeping his arm around. "Ranma Saotome of the Anything-Goes School of Martial Arts. At least in this lifetime. You might have known me a few thousand years ago as General Nephrite, second in command of Earth's defenses under General Kunzite, and the second guard of Prince Endymion."

"I see," replied Luna, obviously suspicious. "And how do we know you're not an enemy?"

"Because I've been told that I've already been vaporized once as Nephrite. I don't think I wanna go through that again," replied Ranma with a dry expression.

Ami, the blue-haired girl, called Luna's attention. "He's tested clean of any negative energy, Luna. In fact, the only energy he's emitting now is a rather strong human life force, which Rei says is just his 'ki.' When he's actually Nephrite, he still emits that life force, but he also sends out magical energies similar to Tuxedo Mask's," she explained.

"Ki?" asked a confused Luna.

"I'll explain later," interjected Rei, preventing Ranma or Makoto from going into what would undoubtedly be a long martial arts lecture the likes of which not heard since her early days of fire-reading. "The point is, he's human and not possessed."

"You're sure?"

"Well, we've scanned him in just about every way we could, so—" Ami began, getting cut off by her computer beeping. Quickly, she turned her full attention to it, typing furiously at the tiny keyboard. Off to the side, Ranma's head swiveled and he turned to face a wall, confusion clearly written on his face. "Two new demonic energy signatures. They match the monster we fought earlier today." Rei frowned, having seen Ranma's movement, and extended her own senses as Ami continued. "There's some differences, but I can't tell them from here. They're attacking a small market about three kilometers—"

"That way," Ranma and Rei said simultaneously, pointing off to the west with a slight northward inclination. Ami blinked at their interruption, but nodded in agreement.

"Come on, girls! The Sailor Senshi are needed!" exclaimed Usagi, posing dramatically and pointedly ignoring the half-lidded stare being sent her way by the one male in their midst.

Ranma turned away as the girls began going through their transformations, instead willing his own transformation into being. His white cape swirled about him as he, Nephrite once more, stepped through the door leading outside, leaping to the roof with a bevy of freshly transformed magical girls following behind.

The six made quite an impressive sight as they leapt across the roofs, arriving quickly at the market that was under attack. As the youma were sighted, all save for Nephrite flinched at the sight. Both six meters tall and vaguely female, the two were visually different in nearly every other possible aspect. One had long, curved, and incredibly sharp blades at the wrist in place of hands and was covered in a spotted black and red insectoid carapace; the other had multiple arms with human-like hands as well as knife-like protrusions jutting out to either side from the wrists, lengthening all the way up to the elbow, and she bore a solid black carapace.

"Naifu! We have interlopers!" snarled the black and red one. "Do we capture or kill?"

"These are the ones who killed Repiya!" snarled the other, presumably Naifu. "We kill them, Shimitaa!" she ordered, thrusting her fists toward the Senshi, her wrist-blades gleaming.

"Move!" yelled Nephrite, leaping up and forward as the girls scattered. With a deft agility, he landed safely on one of Naifu's wrists. A yellow beam of light flashed past him, burning into the youma's carapace to little noticeable effect. Nephrite capitalized on Naifu's attention splitting, jumping up to smash a powerful kick into her face and sending her reeling. Spinning, he planted his foot on her cheek, thrusting as hard as he could to shove her to ground while propelling himself away.

Venus was surprised as Nephrite leapt away from Naifu, landing next to her and taking on that odd posture he'd been in just before Repiya blasted him. She was even more surprised when he turned to her and said, "I need you to zap me at full power."

Remembering that Nephrite seemed to operate by amplifying absorbed energy, Venus nodded and leapt to a safe firing distance. "**Crescent Beam!**" she yelled, pouring more power than usual into the attack and watching as the yellow beam of energy was absorbed into Nephrite, who began bathing the area in a brilliant yellow glow.

"That'll do!" he yelled suddenly, causing her to cut power to the beam—just in time, as she was also forced to dodge a stabbing attack from Shimitaa. Ignoring the Senshi of Venus as she changed targets to join the others, Nephrite adopted his firing stance. "**Return Shot!**" he called, cocking one fist back as it literally pulsed with glowing yellow energy. "**Aphrodite's Rage!**" With that yell, he punched forward toward Naifu, a beam of energy much larger than Venus's Crescent Beam erupting forth and piercing cleanly through Naifu's carapace.

The damage from the attack appeared negligible at first, being only a circular hole with a diameter of barely thirty centimeters. Naifu's scream of agony, however, followed the damage and preceded the hole expanding geometrically, eventually completely vaporizing her.

"Naifu!" bellowed her compatriot, having managed to avoid serious damage of her own from the Sailor Senshi. With a scream of fury, Shimitaa lashed out with a horizontal swipe, delivering a powerful blow with the flat of her blade-hand to the still-recovering Nephrite, sending him sprawling after a considerable flight.

"Nephrite!" yelled Jupiter before she was forced to leap away or be trampled underfoot.

"Kill! KILL! **KILL! I WILL KILL YOU!**" screamed Shimitaa, stampeding toward the prone General, the rest of the world forgotten in her rage.

_This is gonna hurt,_ thought Nephrite with a grimace, struggling to reach his feet. He couldn't even see the Senshi past the bulk of the charging insectoid, so he knew they could no longer see him. Suddenly, his trained senses as a martial artist registered a very powerful, familiar ki source... which is why he was the only one not surprised by what happened next.

"**Ryu Sei Hisho!**" intoned a voice, echoing forcefully as a barrage of red-tinged energy blasts impacted the ground between Nephrite and Shimitaa, only to bounce off and slam into the youma's chest with enough force to send her toppling backwards. As Nephrite finally managed to regain his feet, a tall, cloaked figure floated down from the sky in front of him, facing the ground youma.

"Nephrite, who—" began Sailor Moon.

"I'll explain later!" he called. "Finish that thing off!"

Nodding briefly, Sailor Moon turned toward the monster, drawing out the staff given to her by her future self. "Neo-Queen Serenity, lend your power to my staff!" she called, summoning forth her strength. "**Moon Spiral Heart Attack!**"

"No! Nooo!" screeched Shimitaa as the power of the moon washed over her, incinerating her physical and magical aspects completely and leaving only a slowly dispersing cloud of dust.

"Nice shot," muttered Nephrite, wincing as his ribs declared their injury from the earlier blow. Instantly, Jupiter was at his side, ignoring his protests that he was just fine.

"I'm glad you're alright," she said. "Who's your fr—" she began, ending with a gasp as the cloaked figure turned toward her, doffing the cloak. Long, flowing hair of pure white and eyes that could almost have been called silver gazed calmly upon her. "Kunzite...!" she hissed, clutching protectively at Nephrite.

"Sometimes," admitted the white-haired man. "More recently, I'm known by another name." He glanced calmly at Nephrite, who finally managed to disentangle himself from Jupiter. "It's been a while... Nephrite."

As the Sailor Senshi gathered around the Generals, they couldn't help but feel there was some hidden double meaning to the words. More so when Nephrite smirked and nodded, saying "Yeah, it has... It's good to see you again." He glanced around, checking the area, before spotting the sun, which had nearly set. "Oh, no... I've got to get home!" he groaned, wondering how he was going to explain his injury to his family.

The Sailor Senshi all noticed the time as well, realizing they also had places to be. Kunzite, in fact, appeared to be the only one unperturbed by the time. "Nephrite, do you mind if I accompany you?" he asked. "I'm afraid that when I came here, I left my home behind and have nowhere else to stay at the moment."

"Sure. You remember the way, right?" At Kunzite's nod, Nephrite leapt to the roof, followed by the other General. He then turned to the Senshi. "We'll see you around!" he called, his gaze lingering on Jupiter for a moment before he and Kunzite leapt again, quickly moving out of sight of the Senshi... and indeed far too fast for anyone on the ground to track them as they returned to Nerima.

Before they actually entered the district, however, they were enveloped in glowing lights in mid-leap over an abandoned street, returning to their 'normal' forms. Ranma was less than surprised that his new comrade was Prince Herb of the Musk, having recognized both his aura and the attack used. The **Ryu Sei Hisho** was, after all, a very distinctive ki barrage.

"I never would've imagined you'd be one of us," said the pig-tailed fighter conversationally. He and Herb then landed easily on the street, walking toward the Tendo dojo.

"It's an honor I couldn't turn down," replied the dragon-prince. "After you defeated me, I took some time to rethink my priorities and values. Not long after I returned, some mysterious woman entered my lands and left me the spodumene as a 'tribute'."

"Hah, she told me the jade was a gift," snorted Ranma, walking through the dojo gates. "Come on in. Dinner should be about ready. I don't think Akane will be too happy to see you, though."

For his part, Herb only snorted in reply, following Ranma inside. "Too bad for her."

* * *

**Post-Chapter Notes**

Well, there you have it! Ranma can absorb all forms of energy directed into him, regardless of source. It all changes into a form of magic when funneled through his amplification aura.

Well, onto the explanations.

**Naifu and Shimitaa** - Aside from the already-given descriptions, Naifu and Shimitaa are warrior-types from their hive, which is the same as Repiya's. Warrior-class youma are NOT capable of energy absorption unless the energy is channeled into them as opposed to at them. In the case of Herb's attack, it was directed against them, not into them.

**Aphrodite's Rage** - Aphrodite is the Greek form of Venus. Beyond that, it's a bigger Crescent Beam shot with a delayed disintegration effect.

**Ryu Sei Hisho** - For those who never did quite pick up on Herb's various ki attacks, the Ryu Sei Hisho is an energy bombardment where the user, in this case Herb, flies by the target while blasting the ground with a series of shots. The ki blasts then bounce off of the ground, striking the opponent. The idea is to hit your opponent after they've already dodged. The attack requires incredible precision and the ability to read your opponent's moves, but cannot be used if the target is around significant amounts of water.

**Kunzite's Powers** - Well... you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?

See you next mission.


	5. Ch 4: Ranma, the Other White Meat!

**Big Changes**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

I've got my tea and I've got my breakfast, plus I haven't slept all night! Guess what that means, kiddies! That's right: It's RANT TIME!

... If any of you actually guessed that, I'm going to cry. Seriously.

Anyway, I just want to cover something that a couple people have muttered about in their reviews, but which I haven't : Namely, that Ranma is 'going too easily along with his memories' or 'being in love too quickly.' I'm confused. Where have I shown any indication of Ranma suddenly being in love with Makoto? According to canon, if he's in love, he should be calling her a top-heavy, overmuscled, uncute tomboy. Of course, if he did that he'd probably get a Sparkling Wide Pressure where the sun don't shine...

Ranma and Makoto are not 'suddenly in love.' I fail to see how what I wrote could be interpreted as such. Makoto is an old girlfriend of Ranma's as far as _Big Changes_ cares. Naturally he'd be concerned about her welfare and the fact that she's angry at him or crying into his chest. And, again naturally, she'd want to make sure he was alright after being blindsided by a youma roughly twenty times his size and nearly stepped on to boot.

I mean, seriously, where did I write it that they're apparently suddenly in love with each other? That's not even logical. I don't see it anywhere. It's utterly preposterous...

Lina: Sorry, folks. He's gone incomprehensible. Not that that was a particularly long trip for him.

Maybe if I add theta, but subtract pi...

Lina: Screw this. **DILL BRAND!**

... Ow...

* * *

Were an outsider to comment—from safety, of course—on their impression of Akane Tendo after several months of observation, one could expect to hear many adjectives. Caring, powerful, a bit short-tempered, considerably biased in her perceptions at times...

Herb decided to add 'bipolar' to his own list of observations of Akane's personality.

"Where have you been?!" yelled the dark-haired girl in question, fully in the face of Herb's compatriot, one Ranma Saotome.

"Out," replied Ranma quite simply. Herb stoically observed that Ranma's facial expression mirrored the one he'd worn only a month ago at best... when he was unleashing the tremendous power of the Hiryuu Korin Dan. He withheld a tremble at the memory. That gaping void of cold with a wellspring of raw ki behind it...

"Out where?!"

"Just out. It's none of yer business anyway, tomboy."

"Ranma, you...! Huh?" Akane's anger vanished like a spring breeze as she noticed Ranma hadn't returned alone, and the Dragon Prince felt his lips curl into a smirk as he locked gazes with her, seeing her eyes widen in fear. "WHAT IS **HE** DOING HERE?!" she fairly screeched.

"I have considered the error of my ways on my last visit," articulated Herb, preempting any reply from Ranma. "To that end, I have come to make reparations and atone for my dishonorable actions. Speaking of that," and here, Herb surprised both Akane and Ranma by bowing to Akane, "I apologize for my actions. I was greatly irritated by my recent curse and being locked into my cursed form and was in a hurry to find the Kaisuifuu to unlock the curse."

Momentarily, Akane was left flabbergasted, staring incredulously in Herb's direction. After a minute, her brain finally restarted and she bowed back to Herb, accepting his apology. The two men took that as their cue to enter the house fully, stepping by the still-stunned girl and heading into the dining room.

Given the irritated expression on Genma's face as he and the Tendo family sat around the table, Ranma rightly assumed that Kasumi had just been about to serve dinner when he got home. A quick glance confirmed that it was even fifteen minutes later than usual, so either Kasumi had started fixing it late or she'd been waiting for Ranma's return.

_That's funny... she's got extra helpings set out, too,_ he mused.

"Oh! Welcome back, Ranma-kun," said the Tendo matriarch, directing a beatific smile at Ranma and Herb. "Who's that with you? Another rival?" Her expression almost shifted into one of worry, but given that no one was wrecking anything, she managed to maintain a smile.

"Nah. Well, sort of. Maybe. I mean, we'll probably spar in the mornings while he's here, but..."

"So who is he?" asked Nabiki bluntly.

"I am Prince Herb of the Musk Dynasty," intoned Herb, standing regally as he declared his title. "I have come to make amends for my past transgressions against Ranma Saotome and his acquaintances. May I avail you of your hospitality while I am here?"

"If you're another one of those high-powered martial artists who eats nearly as much as Ranma-kun there, I'm afraid we just can't afford to—" began Nabiki, gesturing slightly to Herb with one hand.

**Clnk!**

"—turn you down. Do you mind sharing a room with a Saotomes?" she finished, eying the three **heavy** gold coins the dragon-prince had placed in her hands. Catching motion out the corner of her eye, she shot Genma a cold glare that conveyed the message, "Don't even think about it." Wisely, the older man sat back at his place at the table.

"Not at all."

"Oh my, it's good I made extra food tonight then," observed Kasumi. "And I think we even have a spare futon already in the guest room closet."

"I'll help him set it up after dinner," put in Ranma, sitting down in his usual place and gesturing for Herb to do the same. Akane wandered in as Herb cleared the doorway, shaking her head after having heard Nabiki change her mind so quickly after just a few gold coins. As Herb had for some reason stolen her place next to Ranma, she opted to seat herself next to Nabiki opposite the dragon-prince.

As Kasumi finished serving the food out and began eating, Nabiki noted something else about the pair of martial artists. "Nice necklaces," she tossed off casually, popping a takoyaki ball into her mouth. She frowned as she noticed neither one had even twitched at her comment, and took an extra moment to look over the stone in Ranma's. It looked familiar. "Is that the same rock you had last night, Ranma-kun?"

"Can I have seconds, Kasumi?" asked Ranma, apparently ignoring Nabiki—much to her great irritation and Herb's and Akane's ill-concealed amusement.

"Of course," was the young woman's reply, scooping some more rice into the proffered rice bowl. "There you are."

"Thanks. Yeah, it's the same stone I had last night, Nabs. So what?"

"How did you manage to get it cut so smoothly and set in such fine silver in just under a day?" pressed the middle Tendo. "Especially since according to Mr. Saotome, it zaps anyone but you for touching it."

"I didn't. It happened about eight thousand years ago, when I commanded over a hundred thousand men as their General, leading them against an invading force that threatened our very way of life and the life of my prince." At Ranma's side, Herb successfully and secretly withheld a snicker, though he continued to smirk as he ate. "We lost, and our enemy decided to punish me by destroying my body and ripping my soul in half, leaving me split between light and dark. The enemy then gave my dark half a new body and used him to kill my prince anyway, while all I could do was watch. Eight thousand years later, here I am with a new trinket just like my old one. Neat, huh?"

"What a sad story," lamented Kasumi as she quietly set her empty bowl down, listening intently to Ranma.

"It's alright. They got theirs in the end."

"Cute, Saotome. How about the truth now?" asked Nabiki in a fairly icy tone. Ranma and Herb both idly, and silently of course, noted that if there had been any major sources of heat in the room, they could have spun them around her to create a tornado.

"Anything-Goes School of Mineralogical Martial Arts Ultimate Technique, Gem-Cut-And-Set," replied Ranma with a perfectly straight face.

"And the necklace?"

"I brought them with me. They represent those who stand out among their peers, paragons above all," interjected Herb. "Warriors are supposed to receive necklaces with a gem of pink spodumene cut in them, like mine. Ranma opted to, instead, set his with the nephrite he had."

"Pink... spodumene?" managed Nabiki. "As in kunzite?"

Ranma only sensed the flinch that Herb managed to withhold because Herb's ki had suddenly flickered invisibly, though not intangibly. "Yes, kunzite. It's a fairly precious stone. Why?"

"Oh my. Wasn't that special stone that Grandfather Happosai touched a sample of kunzite?" supplied Kasumi helpfully.

Herb's face shifted into confusion. "Who's Happosai?" he asked, turning to Ranma.

A cry of rage preempted the pigtailed boy, though he still calmly pointed at Akane and said, "That."

"That" turned out to be, as Herb saw, a short, shriveled old man with a few tufts of hair and... the dragon-prince's eyes widened as he probed the old man's ki with his nonphysical senses. It was inconceivable that such an old person, and apparently a human yet, should have so much ki! In fact, Herb could see the old man's aura growing even stronger, though he couldn't imagine why it was happening.

"That's Happosai. He's got some trick up his sleeve where he gets major power-ups from women," explained Ranma. "Specifically, by gropin' 'em."

Which cleared up why the old man was continuing to fondle Akane despite her best attempts at knocking him off. A sideswipe of Ranma's hand was all Herb managed to catch at the old man fairly flew off of Akane's chest from the blow. Though Happosai reoriented himself and landed before he could get too far, Ranma pursued him, kicking him out onto the back lawn and chasing after him. Herb didn't even give it a thought, setting his plate down and excusing himself before following. This promised to be fun.

As he jumped outside, the first thing Herb noticed was that the ground was empty. Then he was shaken by a sudden burst of wind from in the air. Glancing up, he caught sight of Ranma and Happosai meeting in midair, exchanging blows at speeds he had to admit that even he would have been hard-pressed to match.

Ranma lashed out quickly, blocking a pipe-strike from Happosai with his left foot, then propelled himself even further up with the force of both attacks, gaining more air. Pirouetting gracefully in midair, Ranma felt gravity take hold of him again. As he began dropping alarmingly quickly, he filled his foot with ki, locking into Happosai. "**Ryuusei Kyaku!**" he yelled, driving his foot in a ki-powered kick augmented by his speed.

It was blocked, he felt it, and he felt something crack that luckily wasn't his foot. Leaping away again and landing, Ranma watched as Happosai himself landed, alighting on the property wall and gazing speculatively at his pipe... which was bent rather sharply and sported a plainly visible crack near the bowl. _Wow. That was actually a pretty nice kick,_ he mused.

"That was a pretty nice kick," commented Happosai, causing Ranma to twitch as his thoughts were echoed. "Not nice enough though! I'm still up and I'll make you pay for breaking my pipe, Ranma!" bellowed the elderly grandmaster, flaring up his massive battle aura. "Now you've really crossed the line!"

Ranma smirked, shifting into a stance on pure instinct. He never noticed as Herb's eyes narrowed, focused as he was on his opponent. Leaping into the air, Ranma dodged gracefully around a thrust, bouncing off Happosai's head and self-inverting, feeling his ki flow easily into his hand. "**Moko Takabisha!**" he roared, a brilliant blue blaze erupting from his hand and launching Happosai into the ground as Ranma flipped over in the air, landing easily. Turning around, he called out, "We gonna get serious now y'ol' coot, or are ya done playin'?"

Happosai didn't rise to the bait, though. Glancing warily at his 'pupil,' Ranma suddenly felt as though he were being measured. "No... no, we're done playing for the night, Ranma. I've got silky darlings to liberate!" he said, springboarding from the ground and over the wall.

"H-hey! Bah!" scoffed Ranma. "Stupid old geezer. It was just startin' to get fun."

"Fun? Hmph! Always have to show off, don't you, Ranma?!" yelled Akane. "Stupid jerk!" she added, storming off.

"Feh. Stupid uncute tomboy," grumbled Ranma. He blinked, anger quickly forgotten as Herb stepped up to him. "What's up?"

"We need to talk," whispered Herb. "Tomorrow, though... and with the you-know-who present."

Ranma nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I know what you m—" he began, but was cut off by a cry of pain from the house. As he and Herb nodded quickly to each other, they both leapt into the dining room again, following the families into the kitchen, where they found Kasumi nursing a burn wound on Akane's hand. As most of the family shuffled out, relieved—save for Soun, who was ushered out while wailing about his daughter being critically injured—Ranma and Herb stepped forward. "What happened?"

"I thought Kasumi might want some help washing dishes after dinner," said Akane. "So I came in here to help. There was this bright green rock sitting on the counter by the sink. I didn't want it to fall in or something, since it was real pretty and Kasumi might have wanted to keep it, so I tried to push it away, and as soon as I touched it, my hand hurt. I guess I must've burned myself earlier without realizing it." For emphasis, Akane pointed at the stone in question, still sitting by the sink.

Frowning contemplatively, Ranma walked over to the stone in question, feeling memories tickling at the back of his mind. More of the same he'd felt ever since he had... awakened as Nephrite. As if in answer, his namesake stone glittered as it neared the one on the counter, which also shone a little more clearly.

In his mind, he could hear heartfelt laughter as he "watched" a fencing match occur between himself and a man with close-cropped blond hair. The other man had a smile of both rivalry and camaraderie on his face as his blade clashed with the blade Ranma remembered using.

Then, the memory-picture changed, showing three other men holding a stone in their hands. Two blond men, the one with the short hair and another with a long ponytail, and the silver-haired man Kunzite. Ranma saw his memory's vision pan down, showing a white stone in his hand as he recalled that the other three had each held either a green, blue, or pink stone in theirs.

With a quick shake of his head, his mind turned to the present again, thankful that his reverie had only lasted a couple seconds. He glanced over at Herb, seeing the same dawning remembrance on his face, and as one they both turned back to the green stone on the counter. They knew very well what this stone was.

Knowing that what he was about to do was really going to hurt, Ranma reached out and picked it up with his right hand, clenching his jaw tight to keep from screaming out as a burning pain shot up and down the entire length of his arm. Not simply burning as an intense pain, but as if his arm had caught fire. As he set the rock down a considerable distance away from where he thought it might be accidentally brushed, he finally allowed himself to collapse to his knees and looked at his arm, where he could see his flesh had turned the eye-searing red of a fresh second degree burn, and he realized that there was a lighter amount of pain around his shoulder and pectoral, but oddly no pain at all where the stone itself had been gripped.

As Akane and Kasumi questioned the sudden, strange smell in the air, Herb approached Ranma as the pigtailed youth turned his hand upward, wincing as his burned skin protested the motion. Both fighters' eyes widened and they resisted the urge to recoil at the charred skin on Ranma's palm and fingers from holding the rock.

"That explains why I didn't feel it, at least," mumbled Ranma, catching Kasumi's attention and causing her to turn toward him.

"Didn't feel wh—oh my goodness, Ranma-kun!" her query began, shifting into a panicked cry as she dashed over to him. "Put your hand over the sink, Ranma-kun, please!" she directed, her urgency causing him to comply. He realized her intention when she turned the cold water on, and he hissed at the sudden stinging that resulted from it touching his injury, more pain burning from his arm as he changed into his cursed form.

"Ranma, what did you do?!" yelled Akane in a mix of horror and worry.

"Never mind that, Akane!" interjected Kasumi. "Go get the bandages and ointment, quickly!" As Akane ran off to comply, she turned to Herb. "Herb-san, I need a pair of scissors from that drawer there. Can you get them?"

Nodding quickly and walking to the indicated drawer, Herb quickly found the scissors, picking them up and offering them to Kasumi, who thanked him and began cutting away Ranma's shirt. As the redhead began to protest, Herb grabbed her by her uninjured arm and shook his head meaningfully. Once the shirt and Ranma's undershirt were removed, Kasumi began a quick examination of the injuries, and Ranma herself noticed that the burn that had been over his pectoral muscle hurt considerably worse on her breast.

_Damn things are too sensitive,_ she grumbled mentally, now thankful that Kasumi had cut her shirt away. The cool air helped soothe the pain of the light burn and was more comfortable than the silk had been. Still, complying with Kasumi's earlier orders, she held her arm under the flow of cold water, noting that at least her arm hadn't hurt as much as it had just after the burn. _Still can't feel my hand, though. Must've done a real number on it._

Frantic footsteps indicated Akane returning from wherever the bandages and ointments had been kept, and more indicated Genma and Soun following her into the kitchen. Three sets of eyes widened, two at seeing Ranma topless, in cursed form, and severely burned, and one at seeing the full extent of the redhead's earlier injuries and still wondering how it had happened.

Kasumi smiled in relief as Akane set the medical supplies down for her, and the older girl began quickly though effectively applying the ointment to Ranma's back and shoulder. After a moment of thought, Herb interrupted the flow of water just long enough to splash some on himself, and the prince-now-princess took some ointment and helped, applying it to Ranma's breast with a clinical efficiency.

For her part, Ranma could only hiss at the painful feelings evoked by being touched on those burns. Unable to do anything else, she was left to her thoughts as Soun and Genma walked up, demanding an explanation.

"Got a ki exercise wrong," he answered. It was technically correct, as he'd been focusing his ki into his arm in an effort to protect it from the rock's effects. Apparently, he'd done it wrong, or he wouldn't have been so badly burned.

"Are you getting so lax in your training that you can't even get a simple ki attack off after all the practice you've had, boy? We'll have to redouble your training the instant you're able to—"

Already tired of the diatribe, Ranma yawned, extending one of her delicate-looking arms forward and releasing a tightly-focused ball of blue-tinged white, launching Genma back into the dining room with it. "It was a ki **exercise**, Pops! Not an attack! Get it straight!" she yelled before she heard a tremendous splash from outside. "Huh. Must've shot him straight into the pond." Her satisfaction at dealing with her father was diverted when she felt Herb tug her away from the sink before she and Kasumi began applying the ointment lower on her arm than the shoulder.

"Impressive shot," commented Herb as she got another good look at Ranma's hand. It looked worse on her smaller female form than it had on the male body, and Ranma would likely be unable to use her right arm effectively for the next couple of weeks at least. He reached for the bandages as Kasumi finished applying the ointment to what was most certainly a third degree burn. Somehow, doing this felt incredibly familiar, but he couldn't quite place how even as he began expertly and loosely wrapping the burns.

Very quickly, the wound was completely wrapped, though Herb took special care to wrap Ranma's fingers individually. It was as she set down the bandages that all present were alerted to a startled yelp of panda origin, and turned to see Genma—in panda form, of course—sizzling and smoking as he attempted to maintain a hold on the green stone that he'd apparently taken from the counter while others were distracted. Ranma prepared to save her father from his own incompetence yet again when she was beaten to it by Kasumi, who reached forward and deftly snagged the stone out of the panda's very burnt paw, much to the horror of Herb and Ranma.

Horror turned to confusion as the cursed martial artists and part-time Generals saw no indications at all of Kasumi being burned by the stone. "Oh my, Akane was right... It really is a very pretty stone. It's jade, isn't it?" she asked, smiling pleasantly at Ranma.

The redhead nodded, schooling her expression quickly. "Y-yeah. True jade, though. Jadeite."

"I see... Not at all like your nephrite, then?"

"Ah, Kasumi, can we talk? In private?" asked Ranma, glancing heavily at Soun, Akane, and Genma. The Tendos all nodded in agreement, though the giant panda was still whimpering in pain from the admittedly light burns on its forepaw. Snorting, Ranma led Kasumi into the dojo, though she glanced back at Herb, a question in her eyes. The dragon princess only waved her on, mouthing the words "I'll catch up."

As Saotome and Tendo vanished, Herb turned to the giant panda, marching toward him and standing as tall as she could, allowing her heritage as a dragon to flare up in her eyes and casting a menacing light through her gaze as she coldly looked at Genma.

"Genma Saotome," she began frostily, her tone nearly chilling the air. "This is a final warning. If you attempt to steal these gems from myself, Ranma, or Kasumi again, I will use my abilities to their fullest to leave you dismembered, bereft of your manhood, and slow-roasting rotisserie style over a campfire before finally allowing you the peace of oblivion." At this point, Genma was naturally shaking at these threats, recognizing in Herb the power to do just this. "Have I made myself clear?" The giant panda nodded. "Then go."

Having dealt with that, Herb marched regally to the dojo, ignoring the panda scrambling to stay out of her way.

---

Ranma sighed heavily as she sat across from Kasumi in the dojo. The eldest Tendo was holding the jadeite stone in her hands, almost as a comforting gesture, but Ranma herself had yet to say anything. _How do I handle this? Aren't, weren't we all four guys back then? Urgh,_ she mumbled in her thoughts. After a moment, she sighed again. Best to be blunt. That's how she always was, right?

Course decided, Ranma began. "Kasumi, you remember that little story I told at the dinner table?" At the affirmative nod, she continued. "Nabiki might not believe me, but it was all true. Eight thousand years ago, I was one of four Generals who served under Prince Endymion, future ruler of Earth. A war broke out in the middle of a thousand year peace, and I was forced to lead a hundred thousand of my best men, soldiers I'd trained myself, into battle. And we lost."

Kasumi's eyes widened in realization. "Herb-san, he's one of these four as well, isn't he? That's why you both have similar necklaces."

Ranma nodded, taking his off and holding it out for Kasumi to examine. It was little more than an ornate silver chain with an amulet. The gem was set in a small silver 'plate,' which almost seemed more like a brooch. Ranma carefully tilted it over, revealing etchings on the back. A quartered circle was recognized as the astrological sign of Earth, or Terra. Below that was a language that she couldn't read.

"What does it say?" she asked.

Herb chose that moment to walk in, speaking. "In the name of my Lord the King, I swear to guard my new liege Endymion, unto my end. So swear we the Four Generals, the Four Heavenly Kings," she intoned solemnly, her hand upon her own amulet. Quietly, she shut the door behind her, then joined the pair on the floor. "We four took that oath when we were granted our power by the King. When we were defeated in trying to fulfill that oath, as Ranma said, we were split into two halves—Light and Dark. There's no need to repeat everything else that happened."

Kasumi nodded in agreement, glancing down at the stone in her hand. "What... what were your names back then?"

"We don't remember our real names... the ones we had 'out of uniform,' so to speak. As the Heavenly Kings, we were known in descending rank order as Kunzite, Nephrite, Zoicite... and Jadeite," replied Herb, glancing meaningfully at the jade in Kasumi's hand on her last word.

"These stones do two things. The first thing is they channel our power as the Heavenly Kings; some of it leaks over to us even when we're not in uniform, giving us a sort of 'power buffer' by making us faster, stronger, that sort of thing," explained Ranma. "The second... is they guard themselves from anyone but the right people touching them."

"The burns."

Ranma nodded. "Yeah. I got these burns because I was touching what wasn't mine—the jadeite stone. My nephrite zaps whoever touches it with electricity, the kunzite makes a person's brain explode from too much pleasure. We're not sure what the zoicite does, because we can't remember from the past and haven't found it yet in the present. I only awakened as Nephrite just this morning."

Herb piped in. "And I only awakened as Kunzite just this afternoon."

"And," began Kasumi, "you think I am Jadeite... to awaken this evening."

That earned silent nods from the two warriors. "Unless," said Ranma with half a smirk, "you can tell us with a straight face that you WEREN'T visited by some strange woman wearing a heavy cloak so ya couldn't make out anything about her." Kasumi's eyes shot wide at that revelation, and as she glanced at Herb, the dragon princess nodded as well.

"I was... She told me that this stone, this true jade, would lead me to a great destiny and give me the power to help people..."

"It can and it will, Kasumi-san," pressed Herb. "But only if you let it. Only if you accept it."

Placing her necklace back around her neck, Ranma found herself acting on pure instinct again. Not memory, but rather as if an outside force were guiding her. Reaching out, she placed two fingers to Kasumi's forehead, and whispered, "Remember."

And Kasumi remembered.

And as her body was enveloped in this new power, a smile grew on her face. _Ranma-kun and Herb-san will help me to help others,_ she thought. _I just know it._

As the light died down, Herb and Ranma found a sight they had actually not expected. Instead of a young, trim blond man, they found themselves face-to-face with a young, trim blonde woman with shorter hair. To be sure, she wore the same pressed gray uniform they themselves did, and bore an insignia of her rank over her right breast—the rank of General, as expected. A white cape clasped with a green stone completed the image.

Her voice thick with disbelief, Ranma spoke first. "Jadeite?"

The blonde woman nodded, smiling serenely. "Yes. I've awakened, Nephrite... Ranma-kun. Kun... Herb-san... could you channel some of your ki into me? Quickly, please."

The dragon princess nodded, calling forth her aura and focusing it toward Jadeite, who began glimmering with a faint green aura of her own. Ranma flinched as the blonde touched her arm, but relaxed as she felt a pleasant warmth envelope it. Within seconds, the woman stopped and stepped away, and Herb stopped channeling her ki. Unwrapping the bandages, both out-of-uniform warriors grinned at the pink flesh of a healed burn instead of the red and purple flesh of a fresh one.

"We're back in business."

In response to Ranma's pride-delivered statement, Jadeite and Herb grinned and nodded.

* * *

**Post-Chapter Rant Thingy**

Longest chapter to date! Hopefully I didn't mess it up from writing too long.

**Jadeite (the stone, not the Heavenly King)** - The heat and burns are non-magical and non-elemental in nature. Thus, even someone who's consumed a Phoenix Pill will still be burned badly.

**Heavenly Kings** - The Generals were originally known as the "Shitennou," which literally means "Four Kings of Heaven." That's all there is to this.

**Jadeite (the Heavenly King, not the stone**) - Yes. A woman! MUAHAHAHA! Ahem. To steal a quote from _Ozzallos's Heir to the Empire, _"There's a big difference between being shot to your destiny and drifting there... metaphysically speaking." Thanks to Selthar for reminding me!

**Takoyaki** - Fried octopus. 'Nuff said.

**Ranma's tale** - Take it at face value. Since all we ever see of the Silver Millennium is the disaster that was its final moments, we each have our own visions on what happened. Oh, your question is how he remembered? The Heavenly Kings' memories, unlike those of the Senshi, are not fragmented through a forced reincarnation. They're fragmented by a natural reincarnation. Some people will tell you it ends up being the same, some will tell you natural reincarnations are worse over extended periods due to multiple fragmentations, and some will tell you the effects are reduced due to a lack of outside influences or what-have-you. Point is, in _Big Changes_ at least, natural reincarnation will result in LESS memory fragmentation, not more.

Well then, that's about it.

Lina: About time!

Quiet, you. Just for humor value: when I ran this through spell check, **Ryuusei** offered alternate spellings of "Husein" and "Dusenbury."

See you next mission!


	6. Ch 5: In Which Deals Are Made

**Big Changes**

by Trisar Alvein

**THIS STORY IS HEREBY DISCONTINUED**

My fanfiction works are starting to attract attention that I never thought they'd get! A review from Innortal? I'd have never imagined that! And just the other day, one of my other fanfics got reviewed by Ozzallos! Receiving positive reviews from a pair of my favorite fanfic authors, veterans of their craft, is something I never quite imagined happening so relatively early in my 'career.'

The attentive reader will, of course, note that I've elevated some of these people onto platforms where they become untouchable, almost divine in nature. I'm not entirely sure if they'd appreciate that sort of thing, but much like everything else, I just don't give a damn. ONWARD!

Lina: About time...

* * *

Ranma's grin at finding the third of the Four Heavenly Kings faded as she began thinking of something. She definitely knew those bug youma from somewhere. She couldn't place **where** he knew them from, but somehow she did. Likely some enemy from that time when she was a general with the loyalty of a hundred thousand men.

_Maybe it's that enemy who Kunzite, Jadeite, Zoicite and me all marched against when we were killed,_ she mused. But then, that didn't feel quite right. _No, whoever they are, they're someone else... someone from before that. And Repiya seemed to recognize my name._ There was also a strange sense of urgency in needing to find Zoicite and confer with whoever Prince Endymion was in this life.

_But there's also something more immediate to handle,_ she thought, looking past Jadeite and Herb to stare directly at the dojo door. "Okay, Nabs. I know you've heard plenty, so get in here," she called. As her comrades blinked in surprise and turned to the door, it slid open to admit one Nabiki Tendo, who had a moneymaking look on her face. _I hate when she's got that look,_ thought Ranma with a grimace. It was a look she could recall hating on the faces of politicians back in the Silver Millennium, especially one with fiery red hair who'd been...

Shaking her head to clear it of the woolgathering, Ranma quickly walked over to the dojo door, stepping past Nabiki to shut it behind her.

"Ranma-kun, what are you—" began Nabiki, but was cut off as Ranma spoke.

"What you're gonna hear in here does **not** leave this room, ever, under any circumstances," ordered the redhead coldly.

Frowning at the younger teen's audacity, Nabiki opened her mouth to speak, but was again interrupted, this time by Herb. "On pain of death, as it were, Tendo-san. This information's confidentiality is essential to our survival... and the world's," intoned the dragon princess.

"The world's?" asked Nabiki, glancing around suspiciously. "I doubt Ranma-kun would let Kasumi get involved in something that dangerous," she added with a smirk, before her eyes fixed onto Ranma's own. "Speaking of whom... Where is she, Saotome?"

Unfazed by the evil eye directed her way, Ranma simply glanced pointedly at Jadeite. Nabiki snorted as she saw the blonde. "You're not telling me **that's** Kasumi, are you Saotome?" she asked. "She's too tall, her hair's the wrong color **and** the wrong style, and while I doubt you of all people would notice, her bust is too big by a couple cups."

"Well, I'll admit that's not what I expected her to look like," said Herb, putting herself into the conversation.

"It's not what I expected either," admitted Jadeite, and Nabiki's eyes narrowed. Ranma knew why, too. Jadeite's voice was, appropriately for this form, noticeably deeper than Kasumi's—even if nowhere near masculine in nature—but the deeper voice did nothing to hide the mannerisms. "But then, I suppose this is what happens when you're reborn as a woman."

"No way... that really **is** you, Kasumi?" asked Nabiki, her eyes widening as pieces began fitting together. Furious, she whirled on Ranma. "What did you do to her?" she asked, her voice a chill wind blowing over ice.

"I helped her take the first step toward accomplishing a dream. I helped her remember. It's her choice whether she continues or not," replied the redhead, her own voice becoming ice cold as her Nephrite persona and the soul of ice intertwined.

"You'll get a full explanation, Nabiki," added Jadeite. "But only after we're assured you won't tell anyone anything."

Nabiki frowned. Deeply, in fact. Ranma could see that the woman knew she was sitting on a gold mine of information, even if she obviously didn't know the entire situation. Finally, Nabiki nodded in agreement. "Alright. I won't say a word to anyone."

"Have a seat," invited Herb. As Nabiki sat down, she squinted her eyes against a sudden glare of light. In just a moment, she saw Kasumi kneeling down into the seiza seating position next to Herb, with Ranma plopping down on the dragon girl's other side. "The first thing you have to understand is that the story Ranma told at dinner is very true. Eight thousand years ago, under my direct command—and further, under the command of the Prince of Earth—Ranma, or General Nephrite, personally lead one hundred thousand trained men and women to defend the Prince from someone who sought to usurp the planetary throne for herself."

"Then I guess the necklaces are from back then, too?" asked Nabiki, earning a nod from the other three. "Right. And what was the name of this conquerer-woman?"

Kasumi, Ranma, and Herb all bowed their heads in contemplation at that. Ranma was mentally kicking himself for not remembering such an important fact when a very recent memory struck him.

_"Any funny business and we'll blast you back to the Dark Kingdom so fast, **Beryl** will feel it!" exclaimed Sailor Mars before turning and leaping away._

The name Beryl stuck in her mind, and with it came more memories of what she was now starting to think of as "back then." A beautiful woman with fiery red hair who served in the King's court. Important files of information with her image and name that held no meaning except that she was from then. The same red-haired woman with a malicious grin curling her lips, a hand around his throat, choking...

"Beryl," Ranma said, snapping out of her reverie. "Queen of the Dark Kingdom." Recognition dawning on their faces, Kasumi and Herb nodded as well.

"Beryl?" asked Nabiki, obviously somehow recognizing the name. "I don't think you have to worry about her."

"Why not?" asked Kasumi.

"She ran very afoul of the Sailor Senshi, over in Minato. It was all over the news," replied Nabiki. "The Sailor Senshi fought these monster things that were minions of some person named 'Beryl,' then suddenly there wasn't any more of them. Best guess is they toasted her but good."

"The Sailor Senshi? They made it ahead?"

Blinking, Ranma turned to face Kasumi, who'd asked. The older woman's face was filled with hope, a hope that Ranma recognized was coming from the newly awakened Jadeite personality. "Yeah, they made it," she said, reaching over and patting Kasumi on the shoulder reassuringly. "And they almost tried to kill me. Again, in fact," she added wryly.

"Again? What, do they regularly try to kill you, Ranma-kun?" Nabiki smirked.

"Case of mistaken identity. Remember how I said us four got split between the light halves and the dark? We're the light... Apparently, when Beryl attacked again, she brought our dark halves with her." Ranma tapped her chin in contemplation. "The girls didn't know I wasn't the one they blasted already."

Nabiki stilled herself in thought, then spoke again. "So... what happens now? I mean, even I can tell this is a bit more important than a bit of money to stick in my pocket or buy a meal with, but what can I do to help?" At Ranma's disbelieving look, she smirked. "Give me some credit. I'm no hero and I really doubt I'm the last of your group, but like they say in the West, 'Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.' Besides, if these guys destroy the world, how are you ever going to pay back that debt you owe me, Ranma-kun?"

"Don't remind me," replied the redhead with a grimace. "Those bug things are attacking in Minato... Juuban, in fact... My sixth sense is good, but I can't sense them from that far away, and by the time a police report would come in, that's way too late to do anything about them."

"So you three, and whoever the fourth guy is, somehow need to move to Juuban. Is that what you're saying?" Nabiki pounced on the hanging thought, and Ranma shivered, glad that the girl was on their side. "That'll be tricky. Especially getting Kasumi over too, while keeping Daddy from trying to slip Akane along for the ride. With Ranma we could just say, 'There's monster attacks in Juuban and he wants to do his martial artist's duty to protect the people.' Given Herb's reason for being here in the first place, we hardly need an explanation for him. It's Kasumi that'll be tricky."

Ranma and Kasumi nodded in agreement while Herb simply looked contemplative. Kasumi then spoke up. "What if we convinced Father to change the engagement over to me? Then, as Ranma's fiancée, I would be expected to go along with him."

Nabiki snorted, shaking her head. "Fat chance. I don't know why, but those two are set on somehow getting Ranma to marry Akane."

"Yeah, well, like I said when I first got here, this—"

"—isn't the time for fiancées," interjected Nabiki and Kasumi in absolute stereo, the latter giggling. "We know, Ranma-kun," added Nabiki. "Believe me, I fully agree with you this time."

"I have an idea," said Herb, leaning forward. "Ranma and myself leave for Juuban on the pretense of helping the Sailor Senshi. Being men, we naturally have no idea how to care for a household and need Kasumi-san to help us with that. If they try to send Akane with us..."

Grinning, Ranma picked up on her companion's thought. "We tell 'em she has to stay here in case the monsters attack here!"

"Exactly!"

"And I suppose funding the lease of a small apartment is pocket change for you, Herb?" smirked Nabiki, leaning forward.

The dragon princess nodded. "I brought a small amount of the royal treasury with me and had most of it converted to a local currency and placed in a safe account. Not all of it, of course—real gold sometimes speaks more loudly than a note saying it's worth gold."

"Well, ladies—" began Nabiki, grinning as Ranma and Herb scowled at her, "—I believe we have our plan."

"Great to know," muttered Ranma. "So what are you going to charge us for your help in figuring out all the small details?"

The middle Tendo snorted slightly. "Did you **see** how much Herb gave me, Ranma? I don't need to check it at the bank. There was enough money there to keep the house afloat until **you** graduate. I can afford to be altruistic in the name of saving the world on one condition."

"I **knew** there was a catch."

Nabiki smirked at the pigtailed girl. "Information. Figure out who these bug things are and tell me. If I know them, and you, maybe I can help you beat them. Which means I also expect you guys to tell me **your** powers as they come up. Not right now, of course—too pressed for time. Tomorrow, after breakfast. For now, it's time for good little girls and boys to go to bed," she said, standing up and heading back to the house.

The three Heavenly Kings sat in silence for a moment. Finally, Kasumi spoke up. "Was La... La... what was that name..."

"Layla?" lilted Ranma, finding the name coming easily to her tongue for some reason.

"That's the one! Layla! Was she there?"

Ranma nodded. "She's a little different from how we might remember her. Has long hair now, and she's a lot more aggressive than she was back then. And I'm pretty sure Layla isn't her name anymore. You might want to get ahold of your memories, though. You're not Jadeite with no other name now."

Kasumi's eyes glazed slightly for a moment, then she shook her head quickly. She nodded to Ranma. "You're right... I'm Kasumi Tendo... The memories can be a little overpowering, even if there's not that many of them... How are you two doing so well with it?"

Herb merely grinned, while Ranma elaborated with a slight smirk. "It's our ki. All our training has given us a very strong sense of self. Since our memories of then are coming in trickles, same as yours, I guess we have a better time dealing with it because our strong ki reinforces our sense of self."

Kasumi stood up, quirking an eyebrow at the redhead. "And I suppose that's Nephrite talking?" she asked. Ranma merely waved her hand as she stood up herself, followed by Herb. "Well, until we find that apartment, Herb-san can stay in the guest room with you and Mister Saotome, Ranma-kun."

The two cursed fighters nodded, and as the trio filed back into the house, Ranma muttered something about needing to take a bath, when they were stopped at the door leading from the house to the walkway by both Soun and Genma—Genma still being in panda form for whatever reason. A sign was waved around far too quickly for anyone to be able to read it while Soun was wailing loudly about the schools never being joined.

Frustrated with her father's antics, Ranma lashed out and snatched the sign up, squinting at it. Unfortunately for all involved, Genma's penmanship was a match only for his son's in illegibility, made even worse when hastily scrawled and in such tiny form, and... "Dammit, Pops, couldn't ya have used block print?" growled the redhead as she kicked the panda in the face, squinting at the sign.

Kasumi and Herb also squinted at the sign. "Something about Nabiki?" mused Kasumi, barely making out the hiragana in question.

"I definitely see something along the lines of 'infidelity,'" added Herb.

"And I can make out 'ungrateful son,' too," growled Ranma, swinging the sign and catching the newly-recovered Genma right center in the forehead with it, splintering it and sending the panda to dreamland. "There's your 'ungrateful son' for ya, Pops!"

"Oh, my, Father, how could you think Ranma-kun was being unfaithful to Akane-chan with Nabiki?" asked Kasumi. Her expression was the very picture of vacancy as she spoke. "After all, it was Ranma-**chan** who was being unfaithful... and with **me**, not Nabiki. We, and Herb-kun as well, are going to be living together soon, just us. And we might even get a fourth person."

Though the expression never changed from one of concerned vacancy, Ranma and Herb would later both swear to having seen a mischievous glint in Kasumi's eyes.

"W-W-W-What?!" bellowed Soun, his crying gone and demon head in its place. "**You dare defile my pure and innocent Kasumi, son?!**"

Herb, unfazed by the aura projection, dispersed the demon head simply by throwing a blast of energy into it. "Run," she said, her hands glowing as if to fire another. Genma, now conscious again, needed no second warning, grabbing Soun and fleeing the dragon princess.

The instant they were out of earshot, Kasumi burst into helpless giggles. Ranma frowned in thought. "Oh, right. Jadeite was the prankster of the group. Did I ever get you back for that one you pulled about a year after we were made into the Shitennou?"

"What one?" Kasumi's innocent facade returned with a vengeance.

Ranma wasn't fooled. "You know what one. The itching powder in the underwear drawer."

"Oh, you must have gotten me back for it. You had quite a while to do it in, after all." This time, Herb and Ranma **both** gave Kasumi a flat stare. The affected look of vacancy never wavered. "Oh, my, since you're already in the midst of improper relations with me, shall we have a bath, then?"

"You know, I think I'll wait until morning," muttered Ranma, Herb grunting an agreement and beginning to follow the redhead toward the stairs. "Remember. You're Kasumi Tendo now, regardless of what you can do. Learn from the past, don't live in it."

"You know, you said that so many times back then," began Herb as the two fighters ascended the stairs. "I actually suggested to the King that we make it your epitaph."

"Pfft," snorted Ranma, saying nothing more on the subject.

---

That night, Ranma dreamed again.

Warm, dark, and wet... almost comforting... like the womb... except he could hear voices...

"His receptiveness to mana energy is extremely high, but he has almost no actual potential to speak of... It's almost as though he's a fuse for it."

"Well, our first attempt had an insane potential, but very little receptiveness. Maybe we'll get it right eventually."

"I hope so. Remember, the king must not know of this. He means well, and does what he can for the kingdom... but idealism only goes so far. Sometimes it must step aside for reality. And if he knew what we were doing down here..."

"Agreed..."

Then the blackness, the comforting darkness, was gone, replaced by light. The saber he held became a flurry of glinting steel, striking the blade of the tall, raven-haired man opposite him with almost lethal accuracy. Soon, the element of almost vanished, and the blade found its mark, slipping between a seemingly undetectable flaw in the man's armor and into the flesh beneath, blood pouring out to stain the sword, the ground, and his hands.

"For the glory of the Dark Kingdom," he intoned in a voice that both was and was not his own. "Die, Prince Endymion." _All that's left... is the Queen Serenity. When she falls, Queen Beryl's plan will be __complete..._

The dark dream faded, and Ranma slipped into a more peaceful slumber.

---

Ranma was not the only one haunted by the ghosts of the past that night.

Mamoru Chiba lay, restless, in his apartment bed. In his dreams, he saw horrifying visages. First, insects on some gargantuan scale attacking a small village with few guards... then those same insects attacking a modern city, crushing or devouring anyone unfortunate enough to stand in their path... and in the end, leaving the planet a barren, desolate waste.

Then they left, going to find another world to consume. A familiar blue marble appeared, growing larger and larger until... home. Earth.

And then it began again...

_My Prince. My King,_ intoned a voice. Mamoru turned, detached, as the colossal insects began devouring the cities he somehow knew from Earth's distant past. Before him stood the four Generals. _My King,_ began Kunzite. _The seals are broken. The Vohr'Soth have awakened once more._

_My King,_ interjected Nephrite. _We have awakened to serve you once more. We cannot seal them once again. They must be destroyed._

This time, Zoicite interjected. _My King, this time we must seek Serenity's aid. She alone possesses the power to destroy these abominations._

_My King._ Jadeite this time, as he expected. _Know that we are loyal to you and will remain so now on pain of death. But we are not whole, nor can we become so. Not yet._

The scenery shifted, the events unfolding around him. The Generals turned away from him, each suddenly holding a weapon, and he found himself holding his old sword. Strangely, he felt a sudden detachment, as if he were watching events unfold that he had no involvement in.

_The creature was utterly massive. Endymion guessed it would have stood at least as tall as the defensive wall surrounding his castle. He hoped it was just adrenaline and the heat of the moment making him misjudge its size, but knew better._

_"Try to conserve your energy!" yelled Kunzite's authoritative voice. "When we're done here, we still need enough strength to seal these bastards in!"_

_"Says the guy with the nigh-unlimited reserves!" quipped Jadeite in response. Around him, several green crescents flew in lethal arcs, slicing several of the smaller insectoids to ribbons, though the blades seemed to barely scratch the larger ones that were stomping through the ruined city. "I could use some help here!"_

_"Busy!" yelled Endymion, dashing forward. He sprang, leaping skillfully over a swiping claw. His sword flashed as he swung, cleaving through the massive insect's arm like butter. The blade-like claw crashed to the ground as Endymion landed on its shoulder, swinging his sword again. This time, the creature's carapace held and prevented it from being decapitated._

_"You'll pay for that," growled the creature._

_"Not likely!" yelled Nephrite, running up the creature's good arm and springing over its head, one arm reaching out, pointer finger extended._

_Endymion reached up himself, brushing his finger against Nephrite's as his sword pointed into the insect's neck. "Two Who Are One!" yelled Nephrite._

_"Great Cleave!" finished Endymion, his sword flashing gold as contact was broken, both between himself and Nephrite and his foe's head and thorax._

_Both prince and general leapt away from the dying bug, running over to Jadeite, who was now barely holding up a barrier against his opponent's attacks. Touching the blond on the shoulder, Endymion began, "Three Who Are One!"_

_Nephrite added, "Silver Crescent!"_

_Clapping his hands together, Jadeite yelled out the finish, "Five-Split!" A flash of light flared from the trio as another crescent sprang into existence, flying through the massive creature several times, splitting it into far more than five pieces._

_"They're routing! Let's go!" yelled Kunzite, firing a massive white beam of energy through several smaller Vohr'Soth, clearing a path. The others needed no urging, following._

Again, time sped up. This time, Mamoru didn't see the whole of the battle that followed, but knew it was fierce, driving the massive insectoid creatures back into a meteor far larger than any he'd ever heard of. Then he and his generals were standing in a star formation around the meteor. A Vohr'Soth, this one so massive Mamoru thought it could have swallowed a car with little difficulty, reached a massive, bladed arm out of the meteor... then halted. He and his generals had stopped, standing relaxedly.

Then it happened.

_Ice spread from beneath Endymion's feet, rushing to the meteor. It spread from Kunzite, Jadeite, Zoicite, and Nephrite as well. With a screech, the "Templar" Vohr'Soth—as declared by the few who spat his name as their last words—retreated. But it couldn't escape. The ice encased the meteor, flooding into it, freezing it completely solid. And then it began to sink. The ice faded from view as the massive chunk of rock slowly sank into the ground, but no Vohr'Soth tried to escape._

_They couldn't._

_"Five-Point seal," muttered Endymion. "Complete."_

_A flash of light from outside the star set the five on edge, and they whirled toward it, swords out._

_They then sheepishly put them away as they found themselves staring at Queen Serenity._

_Serenity, herself, quietly glanced at the four generals, then at the prince, then at the meteor as it sank beneath the surface, leaving no sign of ever having been there. Finally, she said only one thing._

_"Damn. You beat me to it."_

Then blackness swept over the scene, leaving Mamoru with the Four Heavenly Kings once more.

_It was the Vohr'Soth who ravaged Earth... It was they who laid the groundwork, unknowing, for Metaria's control of the hapless Beryl. And it was the devastation they wreaked that made it so easy for Beryl to usurp control of Earth_, spoke the solemn voice of Kunzite.

_But far worse,_ began Zoicite, _was that their ravaging of the planet destroyed much knowledge. When the youma swept over Earth in Beryl's wake, humanity had little to fight them with. Queen Serenity's intervention narrowly prevented humanity's total destruction... but the damage was done._

_Humanity was driven into a dark age. All record of the Silver Millennium was destroyed. All record of the Moon Kingdom vanished beneath their hunger and mindless conquest._ Nephrite's eyes brimmed with unshed tears. _We were forgotten by all save Pluto until the memories of the Sailor Senshi and you began to awaken, my King. And it was the Vohr'Soth who are responsible._

_They must be destroyed!_ rang Jadeite's voice. _They cannot be sealed again and risk another escape! If they are not destroyed, it will happen again! This age of humanity will be forever lost, and humanity may not recover this time!_

"I understand," replied Mamoru. "The Vohr'Soth will be destroyed. I swear this to you. The Sailor Senshi and the Four Heavenly Kings will emerge victorious. Humanity will not be lost."

_Thank you, my King,_ spoke Kunzite, greatly relieved. _Our other halves exist in the world of the living once more. They will guide you and be guided by you now. When the time comes to make us whole, we shall meet again. Until then... we will rest._

"Wait!" called Mamoru. "There's still—"

_Goodbye, my King,_ intoned the four, vanishing suddenly.

And Mamoru's dream ended, returning him to peaceful sleep.

---

Kasumi's eyes snapped open. She struggled against her body, frozen in the paralysis of sleep, then shot upright like a cannon, grasping and reaching fiercely. "My sword—! Where—?!" she gasped, then stopped. Her hand slowly moved to her breast, where she could feel her heart pounding. Her heart. _My heart..._ In a flash, the dream returned to her.

_Zoicite's and Jadeite's swords flashed, desperately trying to stay a step ahead of the brown-haired man fighting them. Parry here, guard, thrust at an opening—_

_Pain exploded up Jadeite's arm as the corrupted Nephrite carved into it, slamming the trap on his feint shut on him. Nephrite then turned and easily disarmed Zoicite, bringing his arm back for the finishing blow._

_"Why are you doing this?" exclaimed Zoicite, finding himself literally against a wall with nowhere to go._

_"For Beryl. For Metaria. For the Dark Kingdom. To restore the glory lost to the Vohr'Soth," intoned Nephrite. Zoicite opened his mouth to speak, but cut himself off in a strangled cough as Nephrite drove his sword through the fair-haired man._

_Jadeite turned to run, realizing. _I have to get this information to the King! Senator Beryl is the traitor! _he thought, taking two steps before a cold, numbing sensation began spreading from his chest. He glanced down, seeing the blood-slicked steel protruding from his chest. Nephrite didn't withdraw his sword then—he turned and carved through Jadeite's chest until his blade sliced out through the armpit._

_"Don't worry, Jadeite. You'll see. Under Queen Beryl's rule, Earth will flourish again, and threats like the Vohr'Soth will never become a worry."_

Kasumi clutched at her chest at the memory of a sword penetrating it. _No, not my chest, Jadeite's... I'm alive now... that was... then._ She repeated it in her head, like a mantra. _Then. That was then. That was then. Not now. Not... now._ She took a breath, steadying herself. Slowly, the images, the memories, faded away. She let out the breath in an explosive sigh, shuddering as she became just Kasumi again. The clock next to her bed read 2:21. _Too early to wake up... Back to sleep, Kasumi. You've a long day ahead of you._

She rolled over... and began to dream again.

_Layla grinned cockily at him, and he grinned back. "Are you **sure** you want to do this? The great general, all high and mighty with his sword, actually taking up a bow?" she taunted him._

_"Kunzite might be better at it than me, but I like to think I'm a fair hand at archery," Jadeite returned. "Unless, of course, you're not confident you can match me?"_

_"Ha! Just watch!" Without another word, the raven-haired girl walked over to her positioning marker, raising her bow and drawing back the arrow. Aiming at the target that was a good two hundred meters away, she steadied her arm and released. With a whistle of air, the arrow buried itself directly into the painted target, dead center. "Top that!" she crowed._

_"Top, impossible. Match, however..." Trailing off, he assumed his own position, raising his bow and drawing back the arrow. Concentrating, he let the arrow fly. While it didn't split the other arrow down the middle as the popular talk went, the arrowhead did carve a significant gouge into its predecessor before striking the target. "You see?"_

_"Lucky shot." The mystically-empowered princess of Mars bowed her head in deep thought. "Chess! I'll bet you're not as good as me at chess!"_

_"We'll see. I've been practicing with Princess Mercury lately..."_

Kasumi stirred, drifting into deeper slumber, smiling at the thought of beating her friend and rival at something else.

* * *

**Post-Chapter Rant Thingy**

Nearly as long as the previous chapter. I'm not sure what the response will be to this one, but...

On the topic of flashbacking, I've decided for Big Changes to have flashbacks be presented in italic fonts. Thoughts during flashbacks will be unitalicized, thoughts outside will remain italicized.

I don't really have anything else left to say on this, as much as I want to.

**See you next mission.**


End file.
